


Kill-and-Seek

by cinderrain



Category: D.Gray-man, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crossover, Gen, mild AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2013-09-16
Packaged: 2017-12-26 19:59:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 65,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/969702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderrain/pseuds/cinderrain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war is over, and Harry can finally relax. But in another part of the country, the Black Order is still in the middle of their own war. When Allen, Kanda, and Lavi are sent on a mission to investigate the Earl's strange new interest in an oddly-named school, things get a lot more complicated for both sides. And is there something wrong with Lavi? No pairings.</p><p>(Originally posted over at Fanfiction.net)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Boredom

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello. Thank you for dropping by. I do have a plot, from start to finish, in mind, but my updating schedule might not be very stable. There's an eighty-ish percent chance that I'd finish this (within the next century or so), so please do at least try the first chapter.  
> Setting: After the seventh Harry Potter book, but before the epilogue; after the Phantom Thief G arc, before the Third Exorcist arc, but includes information from the Kanda arc.  
> Non-Canon Changes: Fred, Lupin, and Sirius are alive, and there will be an eighth year at Hogwarts, for Harry's year only, since they missed a large part of school because of the war.  
> Rating: T for a violence, maybe some mild language.  
> Disclaimer: I don't own -Man or Harry Potter.

**Boredom**

Lavi was bored. He hadn't been on a mission for a while, and there was hardly anything to do in the Headquarters. The few things that he could do had already been done for the day (annoy Kanda, steal Allen's food, annoy Kanda, bother the Science Division, annoy Kanda, read, take a nap, annoy Kanda, run away from Kanda, blow up a few things, and did he mention annoy Kanda?). And Lavi had nothing to do. Of course, as anyone from the Black Order could tell you (speaking from experience: too-close encounters with paint, cake, and permanent ink had mentally scarred them all for life), a bored Lavi was a dangerous Lavi.

Allen was restless. He was in the same situation as Lavi, having done everything that he could think of (push-ups, eat, train with Kanda, visit the medical ward and get yelled at by the Head Nurse, eat some more, try to kill Lavi). Lenalee was off on a mission, all the Finders had learned by now to never play poker with Allen Walker, and Reever had told him to stop hanging around the kitchen and go do something else. Only problem was, there was nothing to do. And if Allen wasn't out there destroying akuma, Allen wasn't fulfilling his promise to Mana. A restless Allen was almost as bad as a hungry Allen.

Kanda was irritated. With no akuma to take his anger out on, he spent most of his time trying to kill Lavi. He really needed to go out on a mission. He'd already started spending too much time meditating (plotting ways to kill Lavi), training (beating up Allen), and eating soba (trying to glare everyone in the cafeteria to death). He also spent some time terrifying Finders that were unfortunately within glaring/threatening distance. An irritated Kanda led to an angry Kanda about 98.5% of the time. An angry Kanda led to destruction. All the time.

Lately, the other Black Order members tended to stay a good distance away from those three.

* * *

Kanda was heading to the cafeteria, minding his own business, when he passed Lavi in the halls. Kanda's hand started towards Mugen, but, strangely enough, the red-haired exorcist didn't stop to annoy him like he always did. Lavi swept right past him, with a strange glint in his eye that worried Kanda. However, he shrugged it off and continued towards the cafeteria. Ignoring that would be one of the worst mistakes he had ever made in his life.

Lavi checked up and down the hallways when he reached his room. Good. No one was watching. He weaved his way around the piles of books and paper to a corner of his room that he saved for times like this. It was the part of his room that represented his current personality, "Lavi". And it was his favourite boredom reliever. A grin that rivaled Dark Allen's made its way onto his face.

Allen was busy plowing his way through his mountain of food, with a group of Finders watching him in a mixture of awe, disbelief, and slight disgust. Kanda, on the other hand, was eating soba and attempting to glare at everyone in the cafeteria at the same time (which wasn't working out so well, but it didn't stop him from trying). The other exorcists, scientists, and Finders were in their usual groups, chatting and eating, but something was missing. Allen only got this feeling when something really bad was going to happen, or when Cross was around. Cross was currently nowhere to be seen, so what was it? Then Allen noticed the missing presence of a certain Bookman Junior.

Oh, no.

* * *

Lavi surveyed the cafeteria. Most of the Black Order was here, the supplies were ready, and nobody was looking his way. Perfect. He dashed off, keeping low, and snuck filled water balloons and loaded water guns under tables and benches, making sure that the victims were too busy chatting to notice him. Soon every other table was (unknowingly) armed. Time to put his plan into action. He snuck up behind a Finder he didn't know, making sure his escape route was clear. Then, almost simultaneously, he chucked a balloon at a Finder at another table and stuck another balloon in the hand of the Finder in front of him. Chaos ensued.

The hit Finder, stunned, looked around wildly and gave Lavi plenty of time to escape to hide behind a table a distance away, and watch the drama unfold. The unfortunate Finder holding the second balloon was spotted, and was immediately pelted with balloons from the first victim and his friends (they had discovered the stash under their table). The other table retaliated, and accidentally (also inevitably) hit some innocent bystanders. The bystanders found water guns.

Somewhere in the middle of the escalating battle, someone called out "Food fight!" and pelted their lunch across the room. Lavi figured it must have been Timothy (bless the boy). Soon wet splatters of who-knows-what joined the mess of brightly colored balloon pieces on the wall, scattered across the floor, and lying on tables. Lavi took advantage of the confusion to splat some people who looked like they didn't want to join in. They did.

After a while, Lavi leaned against a wall (after checking it for messy globs) and considered his work. Allen was frantic, his head whipping back and forth, watching all the wasted food (or, more precisely, the food he wouldn't get to eat) while trying to dodge the random objects that had joined the skirmish (books, chairs, eating utensils). Lenalee was standing off to the side, looking worried, but then someone squirted her in the face with some green stuff and she grabbed a water gun and leapt into the fray. Krory was using a tray as a shield, and Miranda, already dripping, was apologizing every time she bumped into someone because she couldn't see through her wet hair. Some, like Marie, couldn't stand the noise and left.

Then a certain dark-haired teen caught Lavi's eye. He was sitting at his table, looking even more irritated than usual. And trying to protect his soba while eating it. A smirk made its way across Lavi's face. He grabbed a couple balloons off the ground and snuck over to the table. He lobbed a neon pink balloon into Kanda's soba, and, as soon as he looked up, splatted him in the face with a yellow one. Before he could grab Mugen, however, Lavi whipped a water gun from a nearby table and squirted him in the face. Not planning to die before he could witness the aftermath of his plan, he ran for his life.

For weeks afterward, whenever someone mentioned the "Water Balloon Incident", Allen shuddered, Lenalee's eyes took on a scary, maniacal glint, most Finders avoided the topic, and Lavi would suddenly vanish from the room. The Head Nurse practically swore vengeance on whoever started the fight (as it caused much, much more work for her). But no one ever gathered up enough evidence to come to the conclusion that Lavi had started it. Which was good; if he was caught, he'd never hear the end of it from the old panda.

* * *

Harry circled above the Quidditch game, keeping an eye out for the Snitch. They were testing out the new Quidditch equipment Mrs. Weasley had bought to celebrate winning the war. They were a bit short on players, so they had to compromise a bit. George, Charlie, and Ginny were on one team, each playing both their regular roles and doubling as Chasers. Harry was on a team with Ron and Fred (who had been recently discharged from the hospital and probably shouldn't be playing).

Ginny suddenly dived, and Harry quickly followed suit. The score was even at the moment, so it was a good time to catch the Snitch for both sides. Distracted, Harry failed to notice the smirk on Ginny's face. She pulled up, he didn't. Thankfully it hadn't rained too much (it was the middle of August, after all), so Harry didn't have to deal with mud. He did have to deal with slamming into the very hard ground. Ouch.  
"Oi, Harry, you okay?" Ron called out from his position near the goalposts, looking concerned. Harry gave him a thumbs-up, then called out to him and the rest of the team.

"I'm just going to take a little break, alright? I'll be back in a couple minutes." Charlie nodded, and signaled for the game to continue. Ron's protests against the unevenness of the teams now that Harry was gone faded as the subject of the argument made his way back to the Burrow. He needed to get his scrapes patched up by Mrs. Weasley, and maybe grab a snack on his way out. When he reached the door, a familiar-sounding voice drifted through it, a bit muffled. Curious, Harry opened the door.

"Sirius!" Harry broke into a grin upon seeing his godfather. He hadn't been expecting him here. After being hit by Bellatrix's Stupefy, he'd fallen and been hit by quite a few other nasty curses and jinxes, the result being that he was out of action for a while. After being released by the hospital, after the war, he'd had to go through all sorts of legal procedures so that he wouldn't have to live like a fugitive anymore. This was the first time Harry had seen him since that day in the Department of Mysteries. "You're finally done with all the questioning?"

"Yep. Sorry I can't stay long, though. I'm actually here to say bye," Sirius replied, looking a bit guilty.

"Bye? Where are you going?" Harry asked, eyes wide.

"Well, Remus told me that he's teaching at Hogwarts again, and he needs me to go find some records about some sort of monster."

"Well now, don't let your reunion be ruined with a goodbye! He's only going for a little bit, he'll be back soon enough. Why don't you call Ginny and the boys down, Harry, and we can have a little welcome home party for Sirius?" Mrs. Weasley interrupted, noticing that Harry had started to look a little down. Harry nodded and set off to fetch the others, forgetting about his scrapes and bruises.

* * *

After the party, Harry decided to take a walk and think things over. This summer had been the most peaceful one he'd had since he'd learned that he'd been going to Hogwarts. He just wished that it would last. Even with the war over, he still had a little paranoid feeling that he couldn't shake. It might have been a side effect from worrying about Voldemort being after him for seven years, but... He tried to think of anything that had been disrupting the peace. There had been that little blurb in the Daily Prophet about mysterious disappearances, but they were all pretty much unconnected but for the strange fact that there were clothes lying around the scene. That was hardly a connection, was it? And to top it off, the article had been written by Rita Skeeter, of all people. He was surprised that they even let her continue writing. He smiled and headed back to the party. He would likely be enjoying this peacefulness for a long, long time, and worrying would just ruin it.


	2. Mission

**Mission**

Allen and Kanda sat on opposite ends of the couch in Komui's office, as far apart from each other as humanly possible, and then some. Lavi lounged in the middle, looking amused at the two. Kanda was looking more irritated than usual, and even Lavi was sitting closer to the side that Allen was on. Allen looked a bit embarrassed, as he was one of the ones who had participated in the "Water Balloon Incident" that Komui was discussing with them.

Well, discussing wasn't really the word to describe the exchange. It felt as though the three were watching Komui go through his coffee mood swings. Lenalee really didn't choose a good day to experiment with her brother's coffee...

One moment Komui was congratulating them (making Lavi nervous, thinking that he'd figured out who started it), the next he was yelling at Allen to stay away from his 'dear, precious, sweet Lenalee', and then he started trying to make an appointment with Kanda regarding a Mugen check-up (he was quickly convinced that Mugen was working  _just fine_ ), and at the moment he was grinning like an idiot and trying to find them their new mission.

Normally, when Komui gave out missions, he was serious, but the coffee  _really_  was taking its effect on him.

"Oh, wait, right, I have a mission for you three! Yipee! A mission! I could see that you guys were getting bored, and Reever was begging me to send you out doing something before you guys destroy anything else-personally, I think destroying things is fun, don't you?-andandand you guys are going to London! Some Finders there-I need to find more coffeeee-noticed that there were strange disappearances showing up on some of the news that looked like akuma attacks-I need more coffee... LENALEE!..."

It went on like this for quite a bit of time, during which Kanda threatened people 13 times, Lavi had to restrain somebody 15 times, Allen turned into Black Allen 3 times, Cross was mentioned 6 times (resulting in Allen being depressed 6 times), and Reever popped in once. Lenalee finally came in and calmed her over-hyper big brother down, after which he immediately dozed off. No one wanted to wake him up again, so the three exorcists turned to the mission folders for more details. What they managed to pick out of Komui's rant and the strangely undetailed mission folder were as follows:

1\. They needed to go and investigate strange disappearances in a part of London.  
2\. Akuma involvement was very likely, and innocence is also possible: some strange occurrences have been reported.  
3\. If the innocence was not involved, find out what is, and stop the akuma.  
4\. They were to leave immediately (as soon as possible)

If they had to leave now, they certainly couldn't wait until Komui woke up and explained more to them. And because of Komui's coffee high, he probably wouldn't wake up until the day after tomorrow, which would make them miss the train. They talked it over with Lenalee (actually, Lavi did, since Allen disappeared to the cafeteria and Kanda went to his room to calm down so he wouldn't kill anyone), and decided that it was best to leave now, and contact Komui via golem afterwards. This would mean that they didn't know where they were going to be staying, and would have to search in a wider area, but staying wasn't worth missing the train.

* * *

The summer air in Diagon Alley was hot and humid, reducing the usually large number of customers to a handful who were running emergency errands (and, of course, the odd fellow or two that enjoyed walking around in the dusty air of an almost-deserted magical street). Since restocking on pranking supplies wasn't normally considered an emergency errand, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was unoccupied, except for the only two in the world who considered running out of pranking supplies an absolute emergency.

The lack of customers wasn't dampening the mood of the Weasley twins; instead they had their minds on something else.

"Say, George, Mum said that Harry's taking Hermione and Ron with him to Grimmauld Place, didn't she?"

"Why, yes, Fred," his twin replied with a smirk, knowing exactly where this was going. "They need to watch it for Sirius while he's away." The Order was still running, trying to catch the remaining escaped Death Eaters, but none of the members had enough free time to guard the creepy old headquarters.

"Feel sorry for them, don't you? Then again, they are the only ones that get along with the house-elf."

"Wonder if we could, you know-"

"Drop by. And-"

"Liven things up a bit." Both twins had rather mischievous (and ominous, to the people who knew them well) grins spreading across their faces.

* * *

Images floated past. A burst of red and orange sparks; a graveyard; a cottage. Someone screamed .The dream shifted, and now Lavi was in someone's bedroom, and all he could see was red and gold. Someone was talking to him; the voice was familiar, but was from so long ago that Lavi couldn't place it in a dream. (He never forgot anything when he was  _awak_ e, of course, but dreaming was a different matter.) Then a more recent, easy-to-recognize voice floated in, talking over the first voice. It was calling his name.

"Lavi! How much longer are you planning to sleep? We're almost there!" Allen called.

"Almost? You could have woken me up when we had actually gotten there, you know? Now I can't get back to sleep and I'll have to bother Yuu-chan."

"Baka moyashi!" Kanda spat, then whipped his head around to glare at Lavi. "Don't call me that!" Lavi grinned. Kanda was in just the right mood to annoy: irritated but not murderous. Yet.

Running from a katana-wielding exorcist was good exercise, after all, and it almost made Lavi forget about his dream. Almost. He made a mental note to find a quiet place where he could ponder it, alone. He only had dreams like that when there was something he needed to remember, fast.

A little while later, with Kanda pushed to "murderous", Allen starving (although admittedly he  _was_  hungry pretty much all the time), and Lavi exhausted, the train stopped at their station. They disembarked, dragging their luggage with them, and started arguing about where to go next. Kanda wanted to get the thing over with, and insisted on continuing their mission. Allen was ravenous, and refused to move unless it was to head towards some food. Lavi wanted to agree with Allen, for the sake of disagreeing with Kanda (and also because he wanted to continue that nap), but something from that dream was tugging him in the opposite direction. He still hadn't remembered which alias those memories came from, but apparently it was important that he did. The images wouldn't stop bothering him. So he said nothing and kept smiling.

* * *

They ended up wandering down a random street, and dealing with whatever they came across first (something to do with the mission or an inn). Allen and his stomach kept complaining, Kanda looked a fingernail's width away from snapping, and Lavi was lost in his thoughts. They came to what first appeared to be a dead end. A closer look revealed another street to the right. Lavi glanced at the street sign: Grimmauld Place. The fragments of the images tugged again. He kept his eyes open as they headed down the street, more thin strands of memory drifting just out of reach of his conscious mind. He set off at a quicker pace, and almost missed the strange old house that caught his eye. By the time it had registered, they had passed it, and Lavi had to come to a screeching halt and backtrack to stand and stare transfixed at it. (Great, now Allen and Kanda were going to wonder what the heck was wrong with him.) Instead of the annoyed looks he was expecting, however, he received confused ones.

"What are you looking at, Lavi?" Allen asked tilting his head to one side. "It's just a house."  _No, it's not just a house. Why can't you see that?_  Lavi wondered, bewildered. Surely this one stood out among the others, with its poor state of repair and the dark aura surrounding it? "Oh, right," Allen continued when he received no response, "the house numbers don't add up. That  _is_  odd."

"Huh?" was Kanda's reply. Allen smirked.

"I see. It's impossible for BaKanda to think outside the box. The house numbers go straight from eleven to thirteen,  _BaKanda_. Or is that too much for your tiny brain to process?" Kanda growled, and would have lunged at Allen with another barrage of insults had a red-haired exorcist not interrupted.

"Guys, wait a second!" They stared at Lavi, perplexed. It was completely out of character for him to interrupt a fight. He'd either sit back and enjoy the entertainment, or join in and cause more chaos.

"What?" Kanda snapped half-heartedly, still a bit shocked from the sudden disruption.

"Don't you guys see the old house?" Lavi asked desperately. "The one that looks like it's going to fall apart at any second?" Receiving no response, he went on. "The one with the 12? Number twelve, Grimmauld Place?" Allen's jaw dropped open (Kanda managed to retain enough dignity to look mildly surprised).

"Wha'? T-there's a... house? It's folding out...? How-?" he stammered, looking so lost that Lavi would have laughed at him if the other exorcist hadn't been just as confused.

"Uh," was all Kanda could say.

After a couple of minutes of gawking in silence, they managed to settle down enough to debate (kind of; certainly not as heated, or as loud, as their normal arguments) whether or not to go in and explore. It wasn't too strange, compared to what they'd seen with Innocence and the Noah, right? It still took quite a bit out of them to see a house appear right in front of their eyes.

They decided that it must be Innocence, so therefore this must be the reason for the akuma attacks, in which case they had to go in. Both Allen and Lavi had to admit, though (Kanda would never admit anything), that it was giving off a haunted-house aura. Which spooked them.

They ended up resorting to rock-paper-scissors.

* * *

Harry was finishing up his homework, distracted by Hermione, who had finished hers, running around helping Kreacher get the place organized. Ron was somewhere upstairs, practicing spells after reassuring Hermione that he'd do his homework "later". Harry could hear an explosion, followed by swearing, coming from the room above him, and he fervently hoped that the ceiling wouldn't collapse on him. It left him off guard.

_Crack!_  The three that were in the room jumped as two all-too-familiar shapes appeared out of thin air. Hermione, recovering from shock, reprimanded the twins.

"Would it hurt you to Apparate outside the building and knock like a civilized human?"

They grinned in response, and Disapparated with another ear-splitting  _crack_  as they went to go annoy their little brother. They heard a bit more swearing from Ron, and then things got a bit too silent upstairs. Hermione stomped off to check on them, muttering about "completely immature use of Silencing Charms' under her breath.

A little while later, Lupin dropped by for a chat, followed by Arthur Weasley popping to inspect something. They both marveled at the difference a happy Kreacher could make on the house, although there were a couple semi-dangerous creatures Lupin intended to take a look at later on.

By mid-afternoon, Harry had finished his homework and had joined Ron upstairs in getting rid of some Doxies that had settled down in an unused room. Fred and George popped in and out of rooms around the house, giving people heart attacks. Lupin and Arthur were discussing something in the kitchen, often interrupted by Kreacher, who was still hustling around and mumbling to himself. Hermione had decided to take a break from cleaning, and was settled on a chair in the kitchen, reading. Every so often she got up to explain to Kreacher why he couldn't keep a dangerous artifact.  
No one was expecting any visitors. Any noise an intruder would make would have been buried under the explosions, laughter, and yelling upstairs. The deafening crash from the entryway, however, was a tad too blatant to miss. Everyone, upstairs and down, froze as the portrait of Mrs. Black started screeching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Did you like/hate it? Please review and let me know if there's anything I missed!  
> Beta read by espeon16


	3. Interrogation

**Interrogation**

Those who say that cheating at rock-paper-scissors is impossible are the ones who scoff at the idea of a small 15-year-old boy winning against 3 large, skilled opponents at poker. Lavi knew what someone's hand would look like if they were going to throw scissors, and the likelihood of it (saying "rock, paper, scissors" subconsciously makes you put out scissors unless you have something else in mind). Kanda wasn't really the unpredictable type.

* * *

Allen liked to think that it was Lavi's fault. Allen had been following quietly, in the back of the group, keeping an eye out for floating skeletons or masked ghosts... Forget the last part. (The place  _did_  look like a haunted house.) Then Kanda had said something from the front of the group, Lavi had abruptly stopped, and Allen had run into him because he hadn't been looking where he was going.  
It was  _definitely_ Lavi's fault.

Kanda had no idea what had just happened, but he was certain about one thing:  _It was the baka moyashi's fault_. They had been in a narrow entryway, and Kanda, being in front, had heard something. It sounded like people talking, and there had been more than two voices. He gave Lavi a quick warning from over his shoulder, and not even half a minute later, disaster struck.

Lavi had been feeling weird ever since he had stepped into the rickety building. It was déjà vu, and something else: a feeling similar to guilt. He had been wondering if it was because he was entering someone's house without permission, but it felt much deeper than that. He'd been distracted since they'd gotten off the train, and he couldn't think clearly. When Kanda had hissed a warning at him, he froze.  _Surely there aren't still people here?_ He failed to remember that he wasn't the last person in the line. Maybe Kanda should have whispered louder.

Everything happened in a flash. Allen knocked Lavi over, Kanda jumped out of the way and swore a tad too loudly, something that might have been an umbrella stand had been knocked over, and then ear-piercing screams erupted to their right. Suddenly up was down, and down wasn't up, and maybe gravity didn't exist anymore. By the time Lavi managed to open his eyes again, the three exorcists were tangled in a heap on the ground. The screaming hadn't stopped. Lavi was sure that Allen's elbow was in his stomach, and Kanda's knee was in his side.  _Ouch_.

Footsteps made the ground shake a bit, but were otherwise inaudible under the screeching that was mercilessly attacking their eardrums. Lavi pushed Allen off of him, and scrambled off of an irate samurai. He sat on the ground, confused, hands over ears and shaking his head to clear it. He was dimly aware of Kanda's string of curses as the other exorcist leapt to his feet. Allen was still on the ground, asking the air above himwhat the  _heck_ was going on in a pitiful moan.

Lavi regained his senses enough to make out a few people pointing…  _branches_ at them? His sensible Bookman mind was telling him to keep quiet and find out what was going on first. His Lavi persona, however, decided on a different way of gaining their trust. He quickly checked the status of his companions. Kanda was melting into the shadows of the hallway, ready to kill or seriously maim anyone who got on his last nerve. Allen had recovered somewhat, and also looked ready to fight if the situation called for it. Lavi raised his hands in a gesture of mock surrender.

"Um, hey. Can we put the pointy sticks down and talk this out?" He gave them a lopsided grin, trying to look harmless. They gave him the second set of unexpected confused looks he'd received that day.

"Stay there and don't try anything," one of them ordered, and then turned away to consult the others. So Lavi's attempt at looking helpless had worked. Of course,  _someone_ had no patience. The all-too-familiar sound of metal-on-metal warned those who knew it well to get out of the way. Unfortunately, the stick-wielders didn't recognize the sound, and were a bit late in reacting. Kanda was practically on top of them before one of them (a black-haired boy around their age, Lavi's Bookman mind supplied) whipped out his stick and aimed it at the exorcist.

" _Expelliarmus_!" Red light shot out of the tip, hitting Kanda squarely in the chest. A surprised look found its way onto Kanda's face as he was knocked back a little, making him stumble. Mugen flew out of his hand, and practice was the only thing that saved Lavi from being decapitated when the katana flew past and embedded itself in a nearby wall, quivering. The surprise morphed into rage, and Kanda flew forwards, ready to maul them, with or without Mugen. This time there weren't any fast reactions, as they all looked like deer in headlights in front of the murderous exorcist charging at them.

Lavi jumped up. If Kanda wasn't stopped, they weren't going to get any answers about this place. A white blur from the corner of his eye meant that Allen was on the move too, and they both tackled Kanda to the ground before he could seriously injure the people-with-sticks (as Lavi had started calling them).

"What the-" Kanda was cut off as his face hit the ground. Lavi pinned down his arms, and Allen made sure he couldn't kick anyone. Before they could do anything to calm the furious exorcist down, however, they heard a shaky voice call out from behind them. It _then_ occurred to Lavi that it probably wasn't the brightest idea to turn their backs on the residents of the old mansion.

" _I-incarcerous_!" a scared-sounding female voice cried out, and thick ropes shot out and coiled around each of the three exorcists, rendering them immobile. Lavi reprimanded himself silently for letting his guard down around people whose intentions he didn't know of.

* * *

Hermione looked the intruders over. They were sitting in three chairs in the middle of an empty room, with the  _Incarcerous_  spell altered to wrap around the chairs as well. The redhead was quiet, his one green eye scanning the room constantly, unnerving her a little. The boy with white hair was smiling at them, a bit sheepishly, and he was looking nervous. Hermione briefly wondered where he got the scar that ran down his face, but then silently scolded herself for being nosy. The other dark-haired boy was sitting there, glaring at everyone (including his own comrades) and fuming silently. Not that he'd had much of a choice in the matter; Hermione had cast  _Silencio_ on him after a string of particularly nasty words directed at the wizards.

Hermione cast a nervous glance at the others in the room. The tension was high; the three weren't saying anything useful (the redhead had shut up after he'd gotten a glare from Ron for flirting with Hermione), so it couldn't be determined if they were Death Eaters. They might not even be wizards, since so far they hadn't given any indication that they knew of the magical world. Lupin and Arthur had closed faces, Fred and George were watching the captives with expressions of great interest (Hermione made a mental note to watch that those two didn't make the strangers into experimental subjects), and Harry and Ron were both looking nervous and a bit frightened. They looked as if they were thinking 'why couldn't the peace have lasted a bit longer?'

Just then, the white-haired boy shifted. Everyone in the room looked up from whatever they'd been doing.

"Erm, how long are we staying here?" he asked, looking uncomfortable with everyone staring at him. His stomach growled, agreeing, and he turned beet red. "I-it's just…"

Arthur's expression softened a bit, but quickly turned cold again. "We're staying here until you tell us who you are, why you were here, and how you managed to get in. There are some special… defenses that a normal person shouldn't have been able to get through."

"We  _did_ tell you those things," the redhead pointed out, in a laid-back, casual tone that unnerved Hermione further. He was smiling as if he wasn't captured by strangers and tied to a chair.

"You didn't, really," Lupin interjected. "Answering 'teenagers that you don't know', 'checking something', and 'we opened the door' isn't specific enough."

Just 'opening the door', in Hermione's opinion, wasn't possible for a Muggle. The  _Fidelius_  Charm was still in place, though its effects had weakened to the point that any person who had visited the house before could see it. The door had been locked with a special charm, and every imaginable spell protecting against Muggles was in place. She started when the captive started talking again.  
"Oh, you want specifics?" his grin grew a little wider. "How about we strike a deal? You answer three questions from us, and we give you all the specifics of your three questions. Sound fair?"

"It does sound fair," Arthur replied slowly, "but we need to let you know that we have… ways of finding the truth. We don't need to tell you anything; you either tell us or we do it the hard way."

* * *

Lavi kept up his grin, but inside his mind was working hard. They weren't in an ideal situation for negotiations, that he knew, but it had been worth a shot. So far, he hadn't learned much. The seven people (that weren't tied up) in the room weren't giving anything away. He needed to stall until he could think something up, preferably having a plan in place before they 'did it the hard way'. He gave a dramatic sigh.

"All right, all right. Specifics. Our ages are 15, 18, and 18; my hobbies are reading, sleeping, and-"

"We don't need to know about your hobbies!" the red-haired man cut in, getting impatient. Lavi smirked. This could get interesting.

"Okay, moving on, next question. We're here to gather information on something that you don't need to know about, because of something that's none of your business, and we'll go when we're done."

"Go on," the man said, looking tired, like he'd given up on getting a straight answer out of them.  
"Last question. We tried the door, but it was locked, so Mr. Recklessly Impatient here"-here he gestured with his head toward Kanda-"kicked it open. I told him it was rude, but  _no_ , he wouldn't listen. And look where that got us." The last part was aimed at the still unwillingly silent exorcist who was glowering with a murderous look on his face.

Allen's stomach decided to interrupt again here. He hadn't eaten anything since the train, and it seemed like a lifetime had passed since then. He apologized profusely, blushing like mad. A couple people in the room chuckled, breaking the tension in the room.

* * *

Harry could tell that this wasn't going anywhere. A different strategy popped into his head, one that involved getting a bit more information out of them and doubled as a test to see if they knew of the wizarding world.

"Do you think we could introduce ourselves to each other?" Harry suggested to the occupants of the room at large. All the wizards nodded, understanding. Harry turned to their captives. They were exchanging glances with each other: the redhead was whispering that 'it couldn't hurt', the white-haired boy was nodding, and both were pointedly ignoring the angry one's disapproval (shaking his head, as he still couldn't speak).  
"Okay," the redhead turned towards them. "My name is Lavi, this is moyashi-chan – which means beansprout, by the way - and that one is Yuu."  
The other two gained dangerous glints in their eyes.

" _Pardon my friend_ ," the white-haired spoke through gritted teeth. "My name is Allen Walker, and the one beside me is Yuu Kanda. Call him by his last name, though," he added hastily when the aforementioned sent him an especially scary glare. "Unless you _want_ to be seriously maimed…"

"On that happy note, let's move on. What are your names?" he continued politely.

"I'm Arthur Weasley, pleased to meet you." The red-haired man began, and they all introduced themselves in order around the room. Lavi noted that four of them, including the twins, shared the last name "Weasley".

"Harry Potter," the black-haired boy finished, and everyone in the room paused, as if waiting for a reaction. The three exorcists gave none. Lavi did notice, however, that the familiar feeling mixed with guilt grew a little stronger when he looked at the boy. Lavi's mind filed it away for later.

Silence followed the interruption, as no one knew what to do next. Lavi was just debating whether or not to break the ice when a loud  _crack_  was heard downstairs. The exorcists thought something like this: 'Did something break?'

* * *

A voice came from downstairs that the wizards (and witch) all recognized.

"Arthur? Are you there? Really, where  _has_ everyone gone? Harry, dear? Ron? Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley called, her voice growing fainter and stronger as she wandered from room to room, searching for her husband and the children. Arthur sighed.

"I'll go get her up here and explain." With that, he left, leaving the three captive teenagers wondering who it could be.

* * *

On the other side of the city, a pair of children was walking home. Their mother always told them not to take the shortcuts, but it was getting so dark out, and they were both tired from playing. It was only a short walk through the alley and then they would be in the open again. The older brother squeezed his sister's hand. If no one found out, they wouldn't get in trouble.

They set off at a brisk pace, through an alley they had travelled often - though only in the daytime. A strange sound suddenly lifted the hairs on the back of his neck, and he stopped short, freezing. His little sister looked up at him, her eyes puzzled. He only dared to stare straight ahead.

She didn't understand, and looked over her shoulder. A scream echoed off the damp walls of the alleyway. That was what set  _it_ off.

A gunshot, and the girl was sobbing, running home as fast as her short legs would take her. She only made it to the doorstep.

The next day, the missing children would only make the second page of the newspaper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please review and tell me what you think!  
> Beta-read by espeon16


	4. Thoughts

**Thoughts**  
Lupin glanced over at the "guests". After Mrs. Weasley had been informed of the situation, she insisted that they untie the strangers. She had pointed out that they were only children (Kanda had bristled in response) and that there was no evidence suggesting that the teens were on the Death Eaters' side. Sure, they had been able to enter the house, but since their Secret-Keeper wasn't alive anymore, the Fidelius Charm had been growing weaker. Any wizard who might have mentioned it in passing could have been overheard by Muggles, and maybe these were just children who had accidentally stumbled upon the old house.

Lupin sighed quietly. He knew that it made sense, but there was this feeling that he couldn't shake telling him that there was much, much more to this than anyone could suspect. Nonetheless, he had agreed to let them go, with only two conditions: that they were watched at all times, and that their weapons were confiscated. The sword and tiny hammer were sitting in a Charmed box downstairs. The teens themselves were standing over in one corner, discussing something in low whispers.

Allen was wondering how exactly they had gotten themselves into this mess. As soon as they had been released, they had debated whether or not to tell their captors about the exorcists and akuma. Allen wasn't too pleased to repeat the police-officers-staring-at-him-like-he-was-crazy scenario, so they had opted to wait to see if these people had heard of anything that seemed like akuma attacks. The more pressing matter settled, they were now arguing with the girl, Hermione, about shutting Kanda up again.

"I can't just do that! The last time was an emergency! I'm not allowed to-" she suddenly cut off, glancing at the black-haired boy.

Harry was slightly amused at the look on Hermione's face. It wasn't easy to argue against the use of magic on Muggles when the aforementioned Muggles were the ones you were arguing with. Explaining the laws of the Ministry of Magic was difficult when you weren't even allowed to use the word 'magic'. The adults had discussed the matter, and concluded that if they really were just Muggles, they would be obliviated soon enough, and if they weren't, then they should know already, so there was no harm in telling them. They left the task up to Harry.

The only problem for Harry now was  _when_  he was going to tell them. He sighed. Now would be as good a time as ever to tell them, he supposed. He nodded at Hermione, and she gave a resigned huff.  _Of course_  she would be the one to do most of the explaining.

Hermione only gave them the basics, but she could tell that they were already overwhelmed. Allen was sitting and gaping, until he remembered his manners and quickly snapped his mouth shut again. The redhead had gone quiet again, withdrawing into that other side of him that Hermione had been observing. Lavi was usually joking and happy-go-lucky, but Hermione took her job (watching the strangers) very seriously, and caught the little details: a smile dropping off his face for a millisecond, his eyes getting a faraway look once in a while. She could tell that some of the others were picking up on it too; the more observant Lupin and Arthur. Harry seemed a bit suspicious, too. Ron, of course, was still clueless.

Lavi looked over at Kanda, who was watching the girl intently, trying to make some sense out of the words that were coming out of her mouth. Allen still looked bewildered, but had calmed down and looked to be sincerely believing her. Lavi supposed he should take the Bookman view and wait for further evidence instead of deciding this for himself, but... The strange feelings were back, and the boy standing off to the side, not really staring but obviously observing them, only made him more confused. For now, he supposed he would act as an exorcist.

* * *

"... and that's why the Ministry of Magic was formed. Any questions?" the relief of finishing her long explanation showed clearly on her face. She had gone through a basic history of magic, the Ministry, and Hogwarts; explained how wands, Charms, Jinxes, and other spells worked; explained some of the 'functions' of the old mansion they were currently in; and had given them a brief overview of what Harry had been through over the past 7 years, including Voldemort's rise to and fall from power.

"Can you prove it?" Kanda snarled unexpectedly. Ron looked up from his homework to glance warily at the angry (and rather confused) samurai, as if making sure that Kanda wouldn't suddenly fly at them again.

 _Crack!_  The three exorcists jumped out of their skin. The witch and wizards just looked mildly irritated, as if they'd already gotten used to the redheaded twins randomly popping out of thin air.

"Cheers! We were just passing by the door-"

"-and we happened to overhear your conversation-" (George held up a set of Extendable Ears)

"-so we decided to pop in-"

"-and say hi!" They finished together. Poor Allen looked to be on the verge of a heart attack, Kanda was starting to look murderous again, and Lavi was thinking that he ("Lavi" the exorcist, of course) would get along very well with these two.

"As 'Mione here has kindly already explained-"

"-we can take you for a tour!" There was a glint in the twins' eyes that none of the exorcists particularly liked.

"No, you're not! You can't go experimenting on them! They're guests!" Hermione got up, Prefect-mode on full power. Allen shuddered at the word 'experimenting'. "And besides, we gave them information, now it's their turn to give us some." She looked pointedly at the three.

"Um," Allen started tentatively, "Are you aware of any recent strange happenings? Like in the news? People going missing?" There was a sharp intake of breath from Harry. He marched over, a Muggle newspaper and some copies of the Daily Prophet in hand.

"I've been following the news, and there have been some cases that match your descriptions. He thrust the paper at them, and watched them intently as they scanned it. The Golden Trio held their breaths, waiting for any recognition from their 'guests'. Suspicion was also growing in their eyes, and even the three adults on the other side of the room stopped what they were doing and watched the exchange. There was a possibility that the three teens were involved in these attacks. Maybe it was a new type of magic that had allowed them to get past the Fidelius Charm: the same type of magic used in these attacks?

The white-haired youth's stormy eyes lifted from the news article. The other two who had been reading over his shoulder (Kanda doing so very reluctantly) finished up as well.

"The details aren't very clear, but there's a high likelihood of these being akuma attacks." He sighed at the confused looks he received, and proceeded to explain the basic concept of the Millennium Earl, Noah, akuma, Innocence, Exorcists, and the Black Order. Lavi butted in occasionally to add a detail that Allen had missed or a number that he had gotten wrong, and Kanda just stood there, arms crossed, silently daring anyone to disbelieve them.

The wizards and witches took a bit of time to process this new information, mulling it over in their heads. They had a quick discussion, nodding and shaking heads at theories and suggestions.

Finally Harry voiced the group's opinion: "Can you prove that you weren't behind these attacks?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading up to this point! I hope you'll continue reading, and please review to tell me what you think.  
> Beta-read by espeon16


	5. Tour?

**Tour?**

It was Lavi who answered the question, but it almost  _wasn't_  "Lavi". There was a hint of bitterness in his voice as he spoke.

"You don't. Unless an akuma shows up, we can't prove anything. But the same goes for you. You can't show us that  _your_  story is true." He pointed his facts out, one by one, in a calm voice that didn't match the situation. It almost made Hermione shudder.

"We've never even  _heard_  of this Millennium Earl guy, or the Black Order!" Ron was starting to bristle at the suggestion that the seven-year struggle they'd gone through was made up.

"Yet  _we_  haven't heard of a Ministry of Magic or Voldemort before." Again, that detached tone that sent shivers up her spine, but Hermione had to admit that he did have a point. Lupin stepped forward.

"We might be even in terms of trust, but we have the advantage here. You're in unfamiliar territory, we have you outnumbered, and your weapons are confiscated. If it comes down to a fight, we could hit you with a spell before you'd even taken a step."

At this, Lavi smiled, but it wasn't the friendly one they'd come to expect from him. It was one that promised the wizards that they  _would_  be able to hold their own in a fight. Hermione glanced nervously over at his comrades. Allen was looking a bit nervous, as if he wasn't used to  _this_  Lavi, either. Kanda still had his impassive mask on, but Hermione though she could see a strange look in his eye. That couldn't be  _concern_ , could it? Something close to it, maybe.

"True. Soon enough, though, you'll start to trust us, and  _then_ stabbing you in the back would be easy." Hermione's eyes widened. He wasn't... threatening to betray them, was he? It was only a possibility, and both Allen and Kanda looked at bit surprised at this. Hermione relaxed a little. They didn't have any need to betray the wizards, if their story was true.

"But of course we wouldn't do that!" Lavi's sudden switch back to his friendly, easygoing demeanor made them all jump a little. "We wouldn't, would we, Yuu-chan? Moyashi-chan?" he looked at his friends in mock surprise, as they had both stiffened at "Lavi's" sudden return. Kanda growled back a rough, "Don't call me that", but his glare seemed to lack malice. Allen just looked relieved.

Lavi turned his head back to address the confused wizards. "So, how 'bout that tour?"

* * *

Allen was still a bit shaken from the exchange. The twins had Apparated away, saying that they'd 'be right back' with a map and some 'supplies', but Allen was too distracted to worry about the 'experimenting' mentioned by Hermione earlier.

Even though Allen was familiar with Lavi's "Bookman side", it almost never came out. If they were discussing the war, maybe, or if something bad had happened and Lavi's mask slipped. The ordeal with Road in the ark still gave Allen occasional nightmares. It just wasn't like Lavi to slip into Bookman Junior mode in front of complete strangers.

Lavi had seemed a little distracted, ever since... Allen tried to remember. Was it since he'd seen the house, and Allen and Kanda couldn't? No, it was before that. Allen realized that Lavi had been a little off ever since he woke up on the train. He sneaked a worried glance at Lavi. He was chatting with the twins, his casual manner making the scene earlier seem like Allen had imagined it. Surely nothing was wrong with Lavi?

* * *

Fred and George popped back to their shop quickly, gathering up some of their projects that were still works in progress. A handful of Exploding Chocolate Frogs, a bottle of miscellaneous gooey liquid, and a little bit of this and that.

They Apparated back in with a loud  _crack_ , giving the exorcists heart attacks again, and promptly grabbed them, dragging them off to their first stop.

"Hey! Lemme go! Where're we going?" Allen squeaked out, trying to escape the grip of an overenthusiastic Fred. George was having trouble keeping hold of Kanda, and so he opted to let go and (since Lavi bounced along readily enough without dragging) assisted his brother with the struggling exorcist.

"Baka moyashi. Where do you think we're going?" Kanda snapped, having recovered from the indignity of being dragged down the hallway by a blur of red hair. Allen, who was having trouble doing much of anything as he was being dragged by both arms now, managed to mumble out "It's  _Allen_ , BaKanda!" before the twins whipped him around a corner and screeched to a stop.

"Now, now-"

"You shouldn't fight like that.  _We_ get along with our brothers-"

" _perfectly._  Why, just last week we gave lil' Ronniekins a 'happy end of July' present!" Fred exclaimed happily. George pulled out an Exploding Chocolate Frog to demonstrate.

" _But_ ," George emphasized, waggling a finger at the two exorcists (Lavi was standing off to the side, watching to see where this was going), "he acted all suspicious of our gift-"

"-as if  _all_  the gifts we gave him exploded!" The chocolate frog detonated, as if to punctuate his sentence.

"Only about half of them did, the rest were tampered with in other ways!" George finished, looking extremely serious. Allen and Kanda were splattered with chocolate, and Kanda was starting to look murderous again (Lavi had been smart enough to dive out of the way when Fred said 'exploded').

"Uh.. Can we get on with the tour before Yuu-chan kills anyone?" Lavi suggested, then quickly added, "Can you show me more of those later? I used up a lot of my supplies in my last prank."

"Lavi..." Allen said, starting to look suspicious. "Was the 'Water Balloon Incident'  _your_  doing?"

"Uh... No comment?" Lavi glanced nervously at Kanda. The other exorcist's hand had already tightened on Mugen.

"'Water Balloon Incident?' I like the sound of that," Fred nodded approvingly. "As for the tour-"

"-we'll start here. This is the drawing room-"

"-and that there's the Black family tree. Remember Sirius?" Fred looked around, and caught an odd look on Lavi's face; he looked like someone had hit him with a Bludger. Fred caught George's eye, and they mentally agreed to file that away for further thought.

"We mentioned him earlier, didn't we? Well," George pointed out a burnt spot on the tapestry, "here-"

"-he is. He's burnt off because he ran away, by the way," Fred added at the confused looks on the exorcists' faces.

"Okay, next room!" George grabbed Allen, leaving Fred to deal with the 'scary man' this time. The exorcists were dragged down two flights of stairs to the basement.

"Why," Allen panted, out of breath, "couldn't we have gone here first? It was closer to our starting point than the drawing room was."

"Well, if we'd just dragged you down here-"

"-'Mione would have followed us! But since we went upstairs-"

"-we managed to shake her off so we could experiment on you guys!" Fred finished, taking a sparkly box out with a flourish. "Here, try this." He stuffed a candy in each of their mouths before they could realize what was happening.

"Mmf?" Kanda tried to speak around the candy, and ended up swallowing it. Lavi swallowed his willingly enough (after quickly taste-testing it for any known poisons), and Allen's food-in-mouth!-must-eat reflex got his down his throat too.

Lavi's started first. The twins watched, intrigued (George had gotten a clipboard out from somewhere), as the red-haired exorcist lifted off the ground with an amused look on his face. He floated about a foot off the ground, and when he tried to walk, the effects were the same as if he were on solid ground. The twins nodded and checked some things off. The effects wore off after approximately three minutes.

Allen's candy took effect next. He shot off into the air with a comically shocked expression on his face before slamming headfirst into the ceiling and drifting dazedly down. Lavi sniggered and made a remark about how that would have 'made the moyashi shorter than he already was', though Allen was still too dizzy to form a proper retort. He just lay in a slumped heap on the ground, muttering dark threats about redheads (including Lavi, Cross, and the twins).

Lavi and the Weasleys turned to watch Kanda. At first he just stood there, too confused to glare at anyone in particular, and settled with glaring at Allen (still on the ground). Then there was a  _poof_  and Kanda was gone.

"Whoops. No worries-"

"-we'll get him back. Maybe."

Allen sat up. "No, it's okay, we don't need to get him back-"

_Whoompf_

Kanda landed on top of Allen, bright red feathers sticking out of his clothes and in his hair. He looked like he would strangle a twin (or both the twins), so Lavi pulled him off Allen and attempted to calm him down while pulling feathers out of his hair.

"Why hello Yuu-chan, welcome back. Wonder where you went, hm? Those feathers match you quite well, actually." He wasn't having much success with the calming-down, but he did manage to get a good amount of the feathers out.

"Based on our results, I'd say it's dependent on hair colour."

"We tried it on Harry once, and he was sent halfway across the world."

"Every time we try it on ourselves or Ron, though, the results are the same as Lavi's."

"Pity, really. We were looking forward to a more interesting result from Ronniekins."

"We really haven't seen Allen's result before, though. I wonder if a taller person would shoot further up?"

They continued like that for a little while, during which Lavi snuck out a few candies to do his own 'experimenting' once he got back to the Order. Finally, a strange creature (apparently the house-elf) ran out and chased them out, muttering about 'the sacred house of Black' and 'peace and quiet'.

* * *

Most of the rest of the tour involved arriving at a new place, a quick introduction of the room (and history, depending on whether or not they had pranked someone in the room before), and a bit of product testing, after which Lavi would steal (or ask for, depending on the size) a sample of the product.

They arrived at a bedroom on the fourth floor. There was a nameplate on the door, reading "Sirius", so it wasn't difficult to guess where they were. Fred turned and faced the group.

"Now, we're about to enter a bedroom of a Marauder, so we have to make sure not to mess anything up, alright?" The Marauders had been brought up quite a few times during the tour (usually when describing what inspired them to think up a prank), and by now the exorcists were very familiar with the four pranksters. The Weasley twins had noticed that Lavi looked a bit off every time Sirius' name was mentioned, though.

They stepped into the room. The first thing that Allen noticed was the colour scheme. Red and gold decorated the room, setting it apart from all the other rooms they had visited thus far. There were pictures and posters (of motorcycles and ladies, Allen noted) covering every inch of the walls. There was a small sound coming from behind him that sounded like a gasp, and then there was a dull thud as Lavi hit the ground.

* * *

The odd feeling had been getting stronger and stronger as Lavi toured the house. He also found that having things that you couldn't remember messed with a Bookman's mind, and he struggled to keep up his facade while fighting a migraine-level headache. He felt like he should recognize the family tree, the house elf, and the rooms. The pictures on the walls all rang a bell, but not being able to know where he remembered them from was driving him crazy. Almost literally.

Bookman Junior's voice sometimes rang out in his head, adding to his frustration and headache. He had almost answered back once before realizing where he was. It was teasing him, making sarcastic remarks about his 'heart and 'friends', but he could tell that Junior was confused, too. A Bookman remembers and records  _everything_ , so why?

Stepping into Sirius' room had been the metaphorical "last nail in the coffin". The edges of his vision started fading into black, and before he could catch himself, he tumbled into unconsciousness.

Fragments of the dream from earlier on in the day crowded into his mind again, and half of him wanted them to just  _go away_  so he could rest. The other half wanted to see the images clearer, so he could figure out what was wrong. The images did neither of these things, gathering at the edges of his dream and slipping away into darkness if he tried to focus on a specific one. He caught the shape of a teenage boy, but couldn't see his face. There were two small children playing on a wooden floor, but he couldn't make out their features. The one fragment he managed to catch was of Bookman, telling him that it was time to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review and/or favourite!
> 
> Beta-read by the amazing espeon16


	6. Travel

**Travel**  
"Is he okay? He's been out for almost half an hour."

"He'll be fine, don't worry."

"Are you sure? I can go get Mrs. Weasley to take a look at him if you want."

"No, really, it's fine. Oh, look, he's waking up."

* * *

Lavi blinked open his eyes, squinting at the suddenly bright surroundings. A final sentence from his dream drifted down to him:  _Your words poison others, don't they, Dave?_  Lavi closed his eyes and wondered to himself whether or not the headache  _had_ driven him crazy. Now he was hearing voices in his head, calling him by one of his previous aliases.

 _"Dave" is a Hebrew name meaning "beloved"_ , his Bookman brain supplied. Lavi sighed and opened his eyes again.

A relieved-looking Allen was standing by the door, reassuring a worried Hermione. Kanda was leaning against a wall off to one side, looking slightly concerned, but when Lavi glanced at him, he put on his impassive mask again. Allen spotted him trying to sit up, and moved (a bit too quickly for Lavi's sleep-addled mind to process) to his side.

"Good, you're awake," he smiled, but the relief was gone, replaced by a look that demanded an explanation.  _Later_ , Lavi mouthed, gesturing with his head towards Hermione, still standing in the doorway. "It's alright, he does this sometimes," Allen called to the girl, who was starting to look suspicious. Kanda shot them a confused look, but thankfully kept his mouth shut.

"Now that you're up, we can get going. If you're okay, that is," Hermione addressed Lavi. The groggy exorcist stared at her blankly for a few seconds, then blinked.

"Going where?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"To the Burrow. It's where the Weasleys live," she added as confused looks spread their way across the exorcists' faces. "Mrs. Weasley thinks that it wouldn't be right for us – that is, Ron, Harry, and me - to spend our entire summer in this gloomy house, so she's called up someone from the Ministry to pop in every so often to check on the house, and offered for us to stay at the Burrow."

"And we have to go with them because one person can't watch the house  _and_ three crazy teenagers at the same time?" Lavi finished, finally awake.

"That's about right," Allen agreed.

* * *

Harry looked around. Everyone already had their bags packed, and the Ministry person had been given his instructions. They were ready to leave, except the three extra teenagers were standing slightly awkwardly in a corner, not knowing what to do. He sighed and walked over to them. The redhead, ever alert, looked up as he approached, but Allen and Kanda seemed to be engaged in a heated argument. When he was close enough to hear, though, he realized it was less of a debate and more of an exchange of insults.

" _Baka_ moyashi," the dark-haired boy snarled.

"Not. My. Name," Allen growled back. He spotted Harry, and mock-complained to him, "BaKanda's too stupid to remember my name. Do you have a spell that can fix it?"

Despite Harry's remaining distrust, he laughed at the childish pout on the other boy's face. "Fred and George have some Canary Creams that might do the trick. Canaries are very intelligent birds, you know. And it suits him," he added when he spotted the feathers in Kanda's hair (Lavi's didn't manage to pick  _all_ of them out). The exorcist scowled, as Harry hid a smirk.

Allen, however, grinned, clearly happy that the wizard boy was warming up to them. Mrs. Weasley's voice, calling out to her sons in the background, reminded Harry why he was here in the first place.

"I need to make sure you guys know what's going on. Right now, we're Apparating to the Ministry to pick up Mr. Weasley and Percy - that's Ron's brother, by the way - and after that, we'll take a Portkey to just outside the Burrow to make it harder for Death Eaters to track us. You have to do Side-Along Apparation, so you need to find someone who can and hold on to their arm," Harry paused for breath and watched them to see if they understood.

Kanda seemed a little confused at all the wizarding terms, and looked mildly horrified at the prospect of having to grab someone's arm. Allen seemed to be keeping up, though Harry appeared to have lost him at the mention of Portkeys. Lavi appeared to have memorized Hermione's explanations from the very beginning, and therefore had no trouble understanding.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley called everyone over, and the twins abducted Allen and Lavi again. Kanda stood at the side, looking unsure, until Mrs. Weasley spotted him and pulled him over.  _Crack._

* * *

Allen couldn't catch his breath. He could compare the feeling to wrestling with Kanda, he supposed. His neck was squeezed like a vicious headlock, his stomach and sides being kicked in, he was kneed in the back, and everything felt  _squished_ (he briefly wondered if this was what his food felt like going down his throat) all at once. Then they popped back into existence, and it took the years of Cross' training not to collapse and throw up right there. He glanced over at Lavi, and it seemed the redhead was having some difficulties keeping upright. Kanda stumbled a bit, but was otherwise fine.

Allen looked around. They were standing (or stumbling around, in Lavi's case) in front of a very nondescript telephone booth. Red, and unremarkable. Allen stared at it blankly (in hindsight, he should have expected it, magic things are always odd), and when Mrs. Weasley called for them to "squeeze in", he shifted his gaze to her, not understanding.

They somehow got a party of nine into the tiny booth, with Weasley hair in Allen's face, Lavi's elbow in his side, people stepping on both his feet, and his back crushing Kanda's arm against the wall of the booth. A muffled voice (one of the twins) suggested that whoever was closest to the number pad spell out "magic" before everyone suffocated.

"6-2-4-4-3," Lavi mumbled from beside Allen, his elbow digging in harder as he shifted and tried to punch in the numbers.

"Ow! Watch where you're going, BaKanda!" Allen complained.

"How am I supposed to do that when I can't see anything?" he shot back.

It went on like this even as the voice started through the speakers, and continued through the Departments, up until they (rather literally) ran into Percy. They had already met up with Mr. Weasley, and had been on their way to where the older Weasley worked, when Allen tripped (it might have been over Lavi's foot) and bumped into Kanda, who fell a bit and knocked over a redheaded Weasley. He hadn't been too pleased.

They finally managed to get to the Portkey, somehow without murdering anyone, and the exorcists were unimpressed with the fuzzy pink toddler boot caked with mud that looked a couple hundred years old.

"I'm not touching that," Allen insisted in a bout of childishness. Lavi just chuckled and Kanda glared at anyone who walked into his field of vision. Mr. Weasley was trying to convince him that they had to, and in the end Allen poked a reluctant finger to the heel. The twins started an overenthusiastic countdown, joined by Lavi, and then Allen felt a tug behind his bellybutton and the world started spinning.

* * *

It had been a few days since they had settled in at the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley had been introduced to Allen's appetite during dinner after they had arrived, and set to work to satisfying it enthusiastically. The exorcists also got to meet a few more Weasleys: Ginny, Bill (over for a visit), and Charlie (also stopping by on his way to another job). They all took to the exorcists rather well, and suspicion was ignored or hidden in favour of a more enjoyable summer.

One afternoon, when Lavi was upstairs with the twins making things explode, Allen was wolfing down Mrs. Weasley's cooking (comparable to Jerry's), Kanda was sitting and examining a strange object and trying to figure out how it worked (a suggestion from Mr. Weasley to occupy him so he wouldn't bother the wizards about getting his Mugen back), and the rest of the teenagers had just returned from playing/observing Quidditch (the exorcists had watched at first, but had retired to less confusing activities after having the rules explained five times). All in all, they were happy times, but the slow tendrils of boredom were creeping in. Allen's musing was interrupted by Mrs. Weasley sweeping into the room, three redheads close behind.

"These three," she nodded towards the exorcists, and looking pointedly at a messy-haired Lavi, "are getting restless. I thought that they could look around Diagon Alley while the others get their supplies, so go with them, okay? I have a few errands to run myself."

Allen corrected himself. When one was associating with wizards and magic and pointy sticks, boredom was impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16


	7. Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

They were going to travel in two groups: Apparating and Floo. The exorcists had point-blank refused to Apparate again, so Fred, George, Harry, Hermione, and Ron had gone ahead and Apparated to their meeting point. Mrs. Weasley and the three exorcists would take the Floo network and meet up with them.

"The Floo powder's almost out again," Mrs. Weasley frowned. "Oh well, there's enough for four people. I'll go first, to show you how to do it. Remember, speak clearly!" She tossed in some powder, making the fire turn a shade of emerald, and stepped in after saying "Diagon Alley". The exorcists stared dumbly at the green fire for a moment before Lavi spoke.

"I'll go next, then?"

Hesitantly. he grabbed some powder and did the same. Allen looked dubiously at the fireplace, as though the flames wanted to eat him, and, coughing, followed the procedure. Kanda was the only one left.

He looked at the flame, and then at the powder in his hands, and listened to make sure that Mr. Weasley was still in the garage. He strode quickly to the box where the Innocence was being kept (not sealed yet, as they hadn't gotten around to it after moving from Grimmauld Place), and snatched up his Mugen. After a quick mental debate on whether it was worth it, he grabbed the hammer as well, and tossed his powder into the fire.

Allen rolled out the other side, extremely disorientated and still coughing. He looked around in panic as he realized that he was surrounded by a crowd of people. He relaxed when he recognized Lavi's red hair, at the same time that Lavi spotted him.

"Mrs. Weasley left in a bit of a hurry and told me to wait here for you guys," he explained. Allen nodded, and they both turned back to the fireplace and waited. After a lengthy pause, Kanda tumbled out, staggering slightly but quickly recovering. Lavi was the first to notice what he had in his hands.

"Is that...Mugen?" Allen stared. Kanda just grunted and threw Lavi's hammer at him. The redhead caught it with pleasant surprise.

"You brought Ozuchi Kozuchi too?" Kanda gave him a look that dared him to question why. Lavi just smiled and tucked the hammer into its holster.

"Um... guys?" Allen called. "Where's Mrs. Weasley?"

"I'm not sure. She went somewhere," Lavi offered helpfully. "I think she was expecting Kanda to get here sooner, in which case we would have caught up sooner."

"Should we go look for her?" Allen asked, looking around worriedly. She was nowhere in sight.

"I want to go explore," Lavi whined. "We'd probably bump into her somewhere anyways."

"But she told us to follow her," Allen pressed, looking uncertain.

"Okay then. I'll go with Yuu-chan to explore and maybe find some clues for the mission, while you be a good boy and go get yourself lost looking for Mrs. Weasley." The redhead looked to Kanda for support, but the other exorcist gave him an I-don't-care-so-don't-drag-me-into-this-conversati on glare. Lavi just shrugged, deciding he was secretly happy to get Mugen back.

"Okay," Allen sighed, relenting. "But if we see Mrs. Weasley or any of the others that we were supposed to meet up with, we meet up with them. We've already broken one rule," he added, shooting a meaningful glance at the Innocence.

"Hey! That's not fair. Your weapon is always with you, so you'd never have to worry about it being taken away," Lavi complained as they headed outside.

Allen figured that, in hindsight, he should have seen it coming. They were lost. Even without Allen's natural "knack" for getting lost, they were in an unfamiliar area without a map, and the strange magical things weren't helping. Also categorized in the "not helping" group were Lavi and Kanda. Lavi was perfectly happy to wander around aimlessly, since he would get to see more things that way. Kanda just trailed along behind them, occasionally throwing an insult at Allen.

They had started out by looking for Mrs. Weasley, but had soon lowered their goal to just making it back to the fireplace they came out of. The three had been swept up in a group of wizards that had been leaving and hadn't gotten a chance to notice what the shop was called.

"What's that?" Lavi asked suddenly, pointing at a large, lumbering figure up ahead. It appeared as if it was heading straight for the exorcists, and it was huge. The figure was about two times the height of the others in the street, and five times as wide. Allen was debating whether or not to make a run for it when it called out to them, waving one gigantic arm.

"Finally found yeh! Yeh really shouldn' run off like tha'. Yeh migh' have got los'." As he got closer, Allen could see that it was a very large man with wild-looking black hair and beard. "Name's Hagrid, by the way. Bumped inter Harry an' his lot, see, an' they told me abou' you three, an' how yeh never turned up, an' so I wen' lookin' fer yeh," he grunted, voice thick with an unfamiliar accent.

He went on for a bit about how worried Mrs. Weasley had been, at which point Allen decided that they might as well as go along with him. There weren't many other options at this point, and those options weren't very appealing.

A wizard wearing slightly ratty robes passed by them, and Allen's eye activated without warning. Startled, he whipped his head around to follow the akuma-wizard, and this caught the attention of both the other exorcists and Hagrid.

"Wha-" their escort was cut off when the akuma started the shed its human (or rather, wizard) skin. The machine ripped away its disguise, which for a brief second resembled a worn-down mannequin, before the akuma emerged. It shot a few test rounds at the exorcists, raising a large cloud of dust, for which Allen was mildly grateful as it obscured the view of the other people on the street.

He instinctively activated his Innocence, the white cloak and mask settling on his head and shoulders, and noticed Kanda unsheathing Mugen beside him. Lavi seemed to be distracted again, as he only pulled out his anti-akuma weapon when he realized that Kanda was already jumping towards the monster.

Truth be told, Allen was worried about Lavi. Even when he was being his usual, bouncy, energetic and annoying self, he sometimes had a blank look in his eyes, and a noticeable falseness in his expression that had Allen wondering where Lavi's mind really was. Even if (even though, Allen corrected himself) "Lavi's" smiles were fake most of the time, he covered it up expertly. Recently it seemed as though his mask was slipping, and he was too distracted to notice or fix it. Though, Allen wondered, distracted by what?

A screeching noise, followed by an explosion, jerked Allen out of his thoughts. He looked up to see that Kanda had already destroyed the akuma, and Lavi was frantically trying to create more dust, as the original cloud was fading and some spectators were gathering. Allen sent Kanda an annoyed glare, making a mental note to remind Kanda of the definition of teamwork later. He quickly deactivated his Innocence and pulled his glove on, standing there innocently as the dust cleared and trying to look as confused as everyone else.

The wizards were apparently used to this sort of thing, since one of them called out that it was probably an experimental charm gone wrong, and the crowd dispersed. No one paid any attention to the three dusty boys standing off to one side, trying to blend in.

It was much easier to find the exorcists once they heard the explosion. Hermione's mind was working overtime, coming up with (somewhat unreasonable) situations that would have caused Mrs. Weasley to "lose" the three. Were they actually Death Eaters in disguise? Did Death Eaters attack them? Were they attacked by Death Eaters in disguise?

By the time they arrived, the teenagers were leaning on a wall, trying to look casual. Hermione could tell that Mrs. Weasley was dying to lecture them, but was refraining from doing so until they explained. She noticed Ron and Harry backing away slowly, as if from a bomb they knew would explode soon.

"Look, we can explain..." Allen started. Hermione shot him a look that said, then hurry up and do it.

"Not our fault, really! Yuu-chan took too long and we-" Lavi's frantic explanation was cut off by a dangerous-looking Mrs. Weasley.

"Took too long doing what?" She spotted the sword and hammer, clearly not where they were supposed to be. Thankfully, Hagrid interrupted before she could kill them.

"Wha' was tha' thing tha' yer eye did?" the half-giant asked, looking very confused.

"It's, uh, cursed to spot akuma. Because they're disguised most of the time. As humans. So you can't tell just by looking. But I can, and, um..." Allen stopped, seeing the suspicious look Harry was giving him.

"You never mentioned anything about your eye when you were explaining."

"I must have forgotten..."

They had to stop and fill Hagrid in, since no one had had time to explain the exorcists' situation to him, and Lavi tried his best to smooth out the situation by giving them a slightly shortened version of events ("We got lost." "We found Hagrid." "We discovered and destroyed an akuma."). Hagrid headed back to Hogwarts, explaining that Professor McGonagall was worried about the disappearances, and that it would be best to let her know. Mrs. Weasley calmed down a bit, and decided to continue the shopping trip. The exorcists trailed behind meekly, and tried not to cause any more trouble.

Professor McGonagall was sitting in her office, poring over recent newspaper articles and concerned letters from parents. Most of the disappearances had been close to Hogwarts, and the most recent one (a little girl and her older brother) had been as close as Hogsmeade. Some parents were getting agitated, claiming that Voldemort was back again (which was nonsense, in her opinion), while others were brushing the events off. She was just about to move on to other matters when Hagrid burst in, scattering her papers and envelopes all over the floor.

"What is it?" she asked him, as calmly as she could manage. He started rattling off information like a machine gun, his accent not helping much. She managed to make out something about dust and strange eyes, and got him to sit and calm down. He started up again, a bit slower this time, and some things started to make sense. There was never any evidence because the bodies turned to dust; there were mentions of gunshot noises in the articles; and quite a few other things started to make sense as well.

After Hagrid left (presumably to calm down some more with a few shots of Firewhiskey), she pulled out a quill and some paper, and began a letter to the Weasleys, involving a proposal about guards and exchange students.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16


	8. Don't Take Candy From Strangers

**Don't Take Candy From Strangers**

Lavi watched as the wizards slowly started to attempt conversation. Even Ron, the one who had been the most unwelcoming, was now engaged in a heated "discussion" with Allen over which foods were the best. Allen kept insisting that Ron stop insulting his favourite foods, while Ron argued that his favourites were much better.

Meanwhile, Hermione was trying to engage Lavi in a conversation. So far, she'd tried the topics 'Snitch and Timcanpy comparison', 'Magic vs. Innocence', and 'Histories of the Black Order and the Order of the Phoenix'. Lavi had deflected her curiosity skilfully, only contributing a few lines when she brought up history, and finally managed to get her to back off when he mentioned (not too subtly) that he was getting a headache.

Lavi wouldn't have minded the young witch's questions at any other time, but right now other things distracted his mind. The streets were cluttered with interesting people, objects, magical spells, and stores. He ducked his head to avoid a flash of purple light as two wizards across the street were having a spirited argument. He hadn't been lying about the headache, though. Trying to memorize and record about ten different things at once wasn't a simple task.

His focus had returned after the akuma battle, when they had wandered into a newer section of the street. Hermione, ever the resourceful tour guide, had explained that entire sections of Diagon Alley had been rebuilt after Voldemort's defeat. There was nothing here that gave him that faint but annoying sense of recognition, for which Lavi was very grateful. The twins, who Lavi also felt that he should recognize, had left to tend their store a while back, so the only source of the feeling was Harry.

The Boy Who Lived was walking off to one side, also appearing to be observing the interactions of his friends and the exorcists. He did it subtly, often adding in a sentence or two to the building "food argument", though he was not as skilled as Lavi. None of the wizards trusted the exorcists farther than Allen could walk without getting lost yet, but despite Ron's unfriendliness, Harry was the furthest from achieving that level of trust.

Lavi wondered why the green-eyed wizard gave him such an unsettling feeling of guilt, as if his unfortunate adventures with the Dark Lord were somehow Lavi's fault. The red-haired exorcist had just been convincing himself that it was impossible (he must have been travelling with Bookman when the whole thing had started) when he realized that his best source of stress relief wasn't following the group quietly as he had been when Lavi had last checked, fifteen minutes ago. Lavi stopped.

"Where'd Yuu-chan go?"

* * *

_About fifteen minutes and five seconds ago…_

George looked over at Fred. His twin had the same glint in his eye, and the plan was settled without words. They slowed down to walk beside Kanda. The sullen exorcist was walking towards the back of the group, looking like he'd much rather be doing something else. Before he even realized what was happening, Fred had stolen Mugen to distract him while George shoved one of their new inventions down his throat. The younger twin started rattling off the functions, but he only had time to mention that it was 'more convenient than Fl-' before the Japanese teenager was roaring after them. Fred threw Mugen in his face and, seeing as they were somehow (perfectly planned) just passing by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the twins excused themselves to "check on" their shop.

Kanda choked a little on the candy, but it was too late to not swallow it. The redheaded twins were waving at him from the safety of their window, waiting to see what their invention would do. He opened his mouth to issue a string of profanities at them, but no sound came out. He settled with a death glare and a silent promise to make them wish they were never born the next time he saw them.

Then Kanda felt a tingling down his spine, and suddenly the rest of the group and the surroundings disappeared.

Kanda found himself still somewhere in Diagon Alley, or someplace like it, as he was still surrounded by people in strange robes and random flying/sparkling/otherwise-magical objects. He cursed, drawing attention from a few people nearby, and vowed to kill the twins as painfully as possible when he got back. Though that was only if Kanda managed to get back at all. Looking around, he found it unlikely. Even though he had a better sense of direction than Allen, he had arrived here by magical means, so he had no idea which direction he had come from.

When some of the random flying objects started heading his way (how exactly had that cat- never mind), he decided to keep his limbs intact and dodge into one of the stores.

* * *

The group, which had been incredibly chatty a minute ago, stopped in their tracks to stare at Lavi. Even Mrs. Weasley, who had been walking up further ahead, made her way briskly back to search for the non-present Kanda. The wizards were looking at him like they hoped that it was a joke. Hermione, who knew better, was in deep thought. Lavi could almost see little scenarios running through her head. Allen, knowing the full implications of a lost, confused, and annoyed Kanda on the loose with Mugen, had already started to backtrack.

"When did we see him last?" Hermione asked, attempting to piece together information.

"I last checked on him… Sixteen minutes and forty-six point two seconds ago," Lavi answered. The others gave him funny looks, and he remembered that he had forgotten to mention his photographic memory. In fact, he hadn't mentioned anything at all about Bookmen, or even him being one, so he really should watch his mouth from now on.

"I think the twins gave him something before they left," Harry pointed out, and Lavi remembered that he had been observing the exorcists closely.

"Well. That widens our searching area quite a bit, doesn't it?" Hermione mused. "He could be on the other side of the world by now." Spirits were dampened by this statement.

"Maybe we could narrow our search in the assumption that he didn't go too far?" Lavi suggested. "Then we can put up 'Missing Child' posters in forty-eight hours."

* * *

After a good half-hour of searching fruitlessly, Harry had to admit that the twins' inventions did get out of hand a bit too often. Mrs. Weasley had been planning to send the exorcists to Hogwarts, as there were teachers there to watch over them. It was a much better arrangement for both sides, and the three wouldn't have to be bounced from Order member to Ministry worker and back again, none of whom had time to spare to watch three potentially dangerous teenagers. Now one of said teenagers was lost. Not going to end well.

They'd already searched Flourish and Blotts, Eeylops Owl Emporium, around Gringotts, Madam Malkin's, and the Leaky Cauldron. Kanda was proving very difficult to find.

* * *

The shop was narrow and dusty, with stacks of long, thin boxes filling the shelves. An old man was sitting in the solitary chair, but Kanda ignored him. Some stairs led up to what he assumed to be the living quarters. He was just about to examine the contents of the boxes one of which seemed to remind him of Mugen, when the old man spoke.

"Be careful around those. That wand isn't stable," he said, indicating the box Kanda had been about to open. The old man - apparently a wizard - got up and walked over. Kanda didn't like this. He knew using Mugen probably wouldn't be the best idea, but this wizard made him a little uncomfortable. Not that Kanda would admit it, but he really didn't enjoy being lost and stuck inside a dusty shop with a strange old man. He was going to murder the twins, bring them back to life, and kill them again.

"Or perhaps you are looking for a wand like that?" he asked, walking closer. Kanda opened his mouth to object that he didn't need a wand, that he didn't even use magic, but the man continued. "You will be needing a wand, soon. This one," he picked up the box and opened it carefully, "is ebony, 13 inches, dragon heartstring. Unyielding." The wand was a deep black with little to no designs on it.

"Ebony is best for owners that won't be swayed lightly from their purpose and are highly individual*. Dragon heartstring tends to be the more temperamental of the cores I use**." He explained, ignoring the fact that Kanda clearly looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else.

The dark-haired exorcist regarded the wand warily. It called to him, as strange as that may sound, and Mugen seemed to approve. He picked up the stick cautiously.

"Go on, try it out," the old man encouraged.

Kanda gave the wand an experimental flick.

* * *

Smoke wove upwards in lazy spirals, winding its way past the bookshelves and around the lights, finally coiling itself at the ceiling. The source of the smoke was discarded on an ashtray as the man who had been holding it began to speak.

"Oi, Road. Are we making a move yet?"

"Patience, Tyki. Not yet. We'll let the exorcists play Detective with the wizards for now."

"Waiting is no fun."

"No, it's not," Road agreed. "I want to see Allen again."

"How are our... allies coming along?" Tyki inquired, lighting another cigarette. Road didn't give an answer right away, instead choosing to rise from her seat and wander slowly over to the bookshelves.

"They're fine. Not the most cooperative, but we need them to combat the pesky magic that the wizards use." She gave a short laugh, childlike, but eerie nonetheless. She continued, "They're still bent on revenge. They're after the Potter boy, are they not?" She replaced the book she'd pulled out, moving on to the next bookshelf.

"So they don't suspect anything," Tyki sighed. Road giggled as he began to complain about their dimwitted 'allies', in between long drags of his cigarette.

"I mean, they didn't even give their group name much thought! 'Death Eaters' doesn't sound very sophisticated, if you ask me."

A sudden grin lit up Road's face, twisting her childlike features into something that belonged in a child's nightmares, not on the child itself. She had found the book she'd been looking for.

She imagined in her mind's eye the dead piggies and destroyed houses. Parts of the Earl's plan, but the goal was much more than death and destruction. It was almost time for the game of hide and seek- no, rather, kill-and-seek- to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:  
> * taken directly from harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Ebony  
> ** taken directly from harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_heartstring
> 
> Beta-read by espeon16


	9. Wands and Innocence

**Wands and Innocence**

Harry was getting tired of looking for the dark-haired exorcist. There were still plenty of places along Diagon Alley that they had yet to search, and they weren't even sure if Kanda was still in Diagon Alley. The green-eyed wizard was still inclined to distrust the exorcists. Yes, their story was likely to be true after what Hagrid had seen, but the teenagers were emitting an aura of secrecy. If they had 'forgotten' to mention Allen's eye, such a crucial part of finding akuma, then there could be other things that they had 'forgotten' to mention.

Too many other things.

There was also the problem of them going to Hogwarts. It was the most convenient plan, but even the best one at this point was almost more trouble than finding Horcruxes. One problem was that the exorcists needed to blend in, though they couldn't use magic. Even the 'transfer students' cover story was stretching it a bit. Even if the exorcists did manage somehow, there was always the matter of watching them in case they did anything suspicious.

Harry groaned and moved on to the next shop.

* * *

Hermione had been charged with the (somewhat unpleasant) task of interrogating the twins. They needed to know what exactly they had fed Kanda. She was also personally curious as to how they had gotten it in the grumpy exorcist in the first place. At the moment, though, she was having trouble getting much of anything out of them.

"-so, speaking of our newer inventions-"

"-take a look at this piece!" George finished, trying to distract Hermione with a greenish blobby object.

"Look, guys, we need to find Kanda before he gets into any serious trouble!" she interrupted, exasperated.

" _This_ can get you out of trouble with your teachers?" Fred asked, slightly hopeful.

"Fine. If you can't tell me, I'll just report to Mrs. Weasley that-"

"Okay, okay!" Fred gave in, hands up in surrender. "The problem is-"

"-we don't know what it does..."

"We normally don't test our new ones on other people-"

"-but there was this hair colour thing going on-"

"-from last time we tested stuff on the exor-" George stopped, realizing his mistake.

" _What last time?_ "

The twins gulped.

* * *

As soon as the wand had started through the air, tiny black sparks flew and small explosions sounded. An empty glass bottle shattered, the chair in the corner collapsed, and multiple objects started smoking, including Kanda himself.

"...Did you mean to do that?"

"No," Kanda gave the stick in his hand a wary glance.

"Try again, but visualize a clear result," the old man suggested.

With a soft crackle, the shattered glass on the floor morphed itself into a lotus blossom, before breaking apart and scattering its petals through the air, falling and fading back into jagged glass. The exorcist allowed himself a mildly pleased expression. The store owner was delighted.

"Like I said, that was a difficult wand," he explained as he started packing the wand into its box. Kanda protested that he didn't have any wizard money, but the old man insisted that the wand had 'chosen' him.

The dark-haired exorcist was saved from the situation by a certain bouncy redhead.

* * *

Lavi stared for a while, not sure if what he was seeing was real. He grinned and strode forward, arms open as if to give the irritable samurai a hug. Seeing the resultant glare thrown his way, the red-haired exorcist thought better of it and offered him a cookie instead (he had picked up a few things while hunting for Kanda). The other exorcist made no move to accept it, so Lavi munched it casually and launched into a lecture about 'staying with the group' so he 'wouldn't have gotten lost' and 'staying in one place for us to find you'. While annoying Kanda, his green eye wandered, ignoring the other exorcist's trademark 'I'm-going-to-kill-you' glare and settled on the wand. He smiled and introduced himself to the old wizard beside it, the store owner giving his name as Garrick Ollivander. Lavi, seeing as how Kanda wasn't making any attempt to explain the situation, asked questions and recorded any useful information.

Kanda was looking a little annoyed at being ignored, but before he could express the sentiment (with the help of Mugen, perhaps?), most of the rest of the 'search party' burst in, causing Lavi to choke a little on the remnants of his cookie. There was a bit of general confusion to get everything sorted out, mainly with the wizards asking Mr. Ollivander endless questions and Allen being hungry. Lavi tried to calm everyone down, but only succeeded in getting yelled at.

Eventually, they reached the topic of Kanda's new wand.

"Maybe he has wizarding blood somewhere along the line?"

"If he did, wouldn't he know?"

"Not necessarily."

"He could be a Muggle-born."

"Has he ever performed accidental magic?"

The last question was thrown at Lavi. It was hard to tell who was asking which question anymore, and Kanda's presence in the room was being ignored yet again. The building wasn't built to hold many people, and it seemed even more crowded with the noise and chaos. Allen started trying to explain why it was highly unlikely that Kanda would have wizarding parentage (seeing as he had been raised in a test tube*), and Lavi assured that he had never heard any accounts of magic usage aside from Innocence.

This prompted a new stream of theories involving Innocence and its relation to magic, and Hermione started insisting that Allen and Lavi both try out some wands. Mr. Ollivander started pushing random wands into their hands.

"Holly, 10-inch, unicorn tail hair?"  _Flick._ Harry's hair turned purple. "Cherry, 9 1/4 inch, dragon heartstring?"  _Wave._ Hermione caught fire. "Birch, 12 3/4 inch, phoenix feather?"  _Swish._ Mrs. Weasley gained a new bright green outfit.

"At least we know they  _can_ use magic," Ron said, attempting to be optimistic.

Fifteen wands later, Allen's complaining stomach grew too loud to be ignored. Lavi tried to cheer him up by suggesting that they go for lunch after one last try. Sighing, Allen pulled a wand from a yet-untouched box. Mr. Ollivander helpfully supplied that it was "Hawthorn, 10 inches, unicorn hair, and slightly springy". Lavi lifted the "Chestnut, 11 1/2 inch, phoenix feather, and springy" wand he had in his hand from before. Allen poked at the air half-heartedly, wanting to get to his lunch faster. Lavi twirled his.

A few different things happened at once. Everything flammable (and some that weren't) burst into bright purple flames, unexplained clouds gathered under the ceiling and snowflakes fluttered down around them. Lavi's cookie reappeared in his hand, which was passed to Allen (who quickly scarfed it down). A few final poofs made the group nervous, but soon the flames died down and the clouds dissipated.

"Interesting," Mr. Ollivander remarked. Everyone looked to him, waiting for the old wizard to elaborate. "Hawthorn," he began, indicating Allen's wand, "is a contradictory wood, filled with paradoxes, best for an owner with internal conflict. Unicorn tail hair, however, is a core that remains consistent and faithful. Try not to mishandle it, though, as it's prone to melancholy."

" _Your_ wand is of a different nature," he continued, gesturing to Lavi's wand. "Chestnut tends not to have much personality of its own, and phoenix feathers come from the most independent and detached creatures in the world."

"What's strange is that the effects did not last very long. For all three of you."

Lavi glanced around. Harry's hair and 's clothes had faded back to their normal shades, and there was no proof of the previous mishaps, save for a few burned spots. "Normally I would have had to fix any side effects myself, but the clouds and fire receded on their own."

"Do you think it has anything to do with what we were saying earlier?" Hermione mused. "Maybe Innocence is similar enough to magic to allow small, temporary spells, but not ones on a larger scale?"

Any answers were interrupted by the poor door bursting open again, this time revealing a familiar half-giant.

"There yeh are!" he panted, leaning on the door frame. "The Headmistress told me ter give yeh a heads-up, see, 'cos yeh woul' have teh go home an' come back here. She sent yeh a letter, but yeh'd have teh go home ter get it, see. She wants those three ter go ter Hogwarts, so yeh should get tha' shoppin' done soon."

When he finished, he looked up at the group expectantly, as if waiting for them to rush off to follow his instructions.

The exorcists gaped, as they hadn't been informed of the keep-an-eye-on-exorcists-at-Hogwarts plan that Mrs. Weasley had formulated, and were understandably confused about the reason they were going to a magic school. Most of the other wizards also looked surprised, being either under-informed or wondering as to the reason that Professor McGonagall would want the exorcists at the school. Mouths were half-opening, as if to ask questions, but then closed when their owners realized that they could find no coherent way to phrase the questions.

Lavi was doing his best to get his over-working brain under control, as it was attempting to process the new wand information, record the recent events, and come up with an explanation for the Headmistress wanting the exorcists at Hogwarts, all at the same time. After a while, he gave up on attempting any of those, and instead focused on trying to stay on his feet. The headache was slowly coming back, the wand in his hand wasn't helping, and he was feeling kind of dizzy. He placed a hand on a nearby bookshelf to stabilize himself as questions started flying again, some directed at Hagrid, some directed at him, and some just floating around for anyone and no one to answer.

And then someone mentioned a name, there was a sound like the world blowing up, and Lavi gave in to the darkness for the second time in a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wands: Allen's wand is contradictory and paradox-like because of his akuma eye and his Innocence kind of clashing, and I think (hope) Lavi's wand is self-explanatory. Most information was taken directly from harrypotter.wikia.com
> 
> Beta-read by espeon16


	10. Surprises

**Surprises**

Allen tensed as his eye activated, and he immediately began sweeping his gaze around the tiny room. Kanda suddenly dashed outside, Mugen at the ready, and Allen scolded himself for not thinking of looking outside earlier. His eye, locating the akuma, informed him that there was only one Level Two. The white-haired exorcist remembered the last time they had run into an akuma today, and decided that Kanda could handle it on his own.

Allen turned his attention to the crumpled mess of red-haired exorcist on the ground. Allen had never seen Lavi collapse (aside from injury-induced exhaustion) before this mission, and this was now the second time in a week. The white-haired boy was worried. He also had the matter of keeping the wizards off his back long enough to sort out this mess. Harry insisted on going outside to help with the akuma, no matter how many times Allen patiently explained that magic would be of no use. However, it seemed that Hermione was the larger problem at the moment.

"Is he okay? What happened? Should I get help?" she fretted, and though Allen knew she only meant to help, it was getting on his nerves a little. Now he understood why Kanda had so eagerly rushed out to vent his frustrations on the akuma.

"I'm sure I could help keep the crowds away, at least," Harry persisted, and Allen wondered if the green-eyed teen just wanted to see the akuma for himself.

"For the last time, no," Allen told him, through gritted teeth, an edge creeping into his voice. "I know you want to help, but if you distract Kanda, he'd kill you."  
It  _was_  almost true that the real danger was annoying Kanda, and not from the akuma. At this point Ron joined in with the pleading, and Mrs. Weasley added to the worrying, and Allen almost envied Lavi, still out cold.

* * *

The images were back again. It was like looking at some humongous collage or painting, with little frames packed into every inch. Whenever Lavi tried to look closer at one of them, it slid out of focus after affording him half a second's glimpse. Apparently, photographic memory did not work during mysterious dreams. The back of a head there, a corner of a room there, but nothing at all that was clear enough to have any meaning to the redhead. Some of the frames were nothing at all, darkness, but with a barely perceivable scent or texture. A flutter of wings, the musty smell of old clothing, soft and reassuring hands on his shoulders.

Snippets of voices and sounds that didn't match the frames he was currently trying to focus on only made him more confused. There was someone calling him by his alias, Dave, but it wasn't Bookman. Someone else, sounding worried? A child's laughter, the screams of the dying. All these memories, but Lavi was somehow certain that they all belonged to one persona. But who was Dave?

The apprentice Bookman recognized the name as one of his personas, but now that he really tried to remember, he realized that he didn't 'know' Dave. He knew where 'Dave' fit, right in between 'Alex' (defender of mankind) and 'Ryan' (little king). What he didn't know was what Dave had seen, or even how 'Dave' was supposed to behave. A particularly loud bit roared across his dream, and it was a familiar-sounding name, but his subconscious quickly snatched it away from him. His dream-self gave a resigned sigh, and continued with his attempts to wake up with at least  _something_  helpful.

* * *

Kanda had not been having a good day. First, he had to get... separated from the rest of the group (Kanda just  _didn't_  get lost, unlike certain white-haired 'beansprouts'). Then, he had all the troublesome business with the wand. Now the 'idiot rabbit' had passed out again (not that Kanda was worried) and an akuma had come to visit. Besides, what was that bit about a school?

A dying flail from the jellyfish-like akuma snatched away his train of thought. He jumped to avoid a tentacle, hair fanning out behind him, and cursed rather colourfully when another one whipped out from behind, hidden in his blind spot.  
Kanda didn't like random, unpredictable things, which was why the fainting-rabbits thing was kind of bothering him. It was kind of why  _Allen_ bothered him. He was hoping that the wound wouldn't take  _too_  long to heal when the long stick of wood, lying forgotten in his coat pocket, sputtered a little and then the tentacle had disintegrated with the rest of the akuma. Kanda narrowed his eyes at the wand. The tentacle had slowed down at the last moment, giving it time to break apart.

The exorcist decided that he would think about it later, sheathed Mugen, and went inside ( _not_  to check on Lavi).

* * *

Lavi blinked open his eyes groggily, feeling lightheaded and disorientated. Movement caught his attention, and his green eye moved to a frantically pacing bushy-haired girl who hadn't noticed that her charge was awake yet. If Lavi was going to be passing out on a regular basis now, he was going to have to ask Allen not to assign Hermione to watch over him. Her worrying was almost contagious, and Lavi really didn't need another headache at the moment. He also picked up a hint of suspicion, likely from a recent conversation with Allen. Lavi was going to have to make up for it with his acting skills. It didn't help that she was one of the brightest, and she would catch any slips he made. The redhead sighed internally and put on his persona.

"What'cha doin'?" he asked aloud, voice not too loud so he wouldn't startle her, but still with all the friendliness that the girl should have come to associate with "Lavi". She gave a start anyways, head whipping around to stare at him, before relaxing. Clearly what she had been thinking wasn't something she wanted the exorcists to know about. Lavi ignored it, as he would find out sooner or later, and smiled even more brightly. If Lavi hadn't been at this for years, the smile would have split his face in half. It seemed to convince Hermione, though, as she returned a polite smile.

"Your friends are in the kitchen. Allen asked me to inform him if you wake up, so you might want to let him know that you're okay before he eats himself to death."

"Allen, overeat?" the redhead exclaimed in mock surprise. He laughed, but it came out a bit shaky. He must have still been bothered by the dream, and Lavi just hoped that Hermione wouldn't notice. "Nah, he's not worried about me, that's his normal food intake."

"But... He said it was just an afternoon snack! And he was just inhaling it!" she protested, eyes wide in horror. Lavi just grinned again and attempted to get up. He might have been out a bit too long, though. He had been on his feet for a grand total of two and a half seconds before his knees buckled, his head started spinning, and he crashed nose-first to the ground. This earned a startled gasp from Hermione, who immediately rushed over to help, but Lavi struggled to his feet again and smiled away her outstretched hand. If the smile hadn't been his own, even he would've been fooled by it.

"M' fine, just a little dizzy from lying around so much," he assured her, with a convincing tilt of his head and a soft smile. She nodded and led the way.

The first thing Lavi noticed after stepping into the kitchen was the lack of space. Every inch of space was filled with plates and plates of food. Two whole pizzas dangled perilously off the edge of a table, half of their weight supported by only air. A few slices of chocolate cake were piled on top of a carrot, reminding Lavi of the leaning tower of Pisa. An arrangement of baked potatoes was rolling off a heap of chicken wings. The only way to locate Allen was the slurping noise he was making as he worked his way through an oversized bowl of soup. Lavi was wondering if Allen really  _was_  worried about him. That was  _way_  too much food to be healthy, even for Allen.

A contented-looking Mrs. Weasley stood a little bit out of the room, surveying her work and making sure the kitchen stayed relatively clean. She flicked her wand at the pizza, which were starting to slide off. Lavi had just been planning a route through the mess that wouldn't get him splattered when he noticed a dark-haired exorcist walk in.

Kanda looked to be in a bad mood. One glance in Lavi's direction was all it took for the exorcist's scowl to deepen. Lavi tried his most convincing 'I'm fine' face, and Kanda returned a look that threatened to kill if anyone suggested that he had been worried. He exhaled sharply and turned to Allen (who was now shoving a handful of fries into his mouth).

"Oi, moyashi!" he called, sounding like he would really rather be anywhere else at the moment. The white-haired exorcist wasted no time in snapping back a retort.

"The. Name. Is. Allen!" he ground out through clenched teeth, words slightly muffled by his mouthful of potato. The reply was pointedly ignored by the other teen, who continued with his reluctant message as if the recipient had not interrupted.

"The wizard wanted to talk to you."

"Which one? Because I'm sure you've noticed that there are multiple wizards residing here," Allen responded, speaking slowly, as if explaining a complicated math problem to a small child.

"The one who didn't like it when you annihilated his work."

"That wasn't my fault!" he scoffed, indignant.

"Of course not," came the response, dripping in sarcasm. Kanda was smirking now. "I was there, you know. If that wasn't your fault, then I'm not an exorcist."

Lavi had been there too. It had happened before the shopping trip, and Kanda had gotten tired of fiddling with the scrap of machinery that Mr. Weasley had passed him. Allen, for once not in the kitchen, was exploring the house. Mr. Weasley had shown him his latest Muggle-wizard combination contraption, and left the boy alone for a few minutes while he went to go grab a drink. Lavi personally thought that leaving Allen with breakable objects while Kanda was within a three-kilometer radius was a terrible idea, but curiosity won over and he kept his opinions to himself. The redhead was soon rewarded when Kanda rose to return his plaything to the shelf he had borrowed it from.

"Hey, BaKanda, have you seen Timcanpy?"

"No," came the surprisingly civil reply.

"Are you sure? I haven't seen him since he crawled into my jacket sleeve last night, and-"

_Crash_

"... there he is, baka moyashi."

"Bad! Bad Tim!" Followed by more crashing, puffing noises, and... was that  _splashing_?

"You're going to have to clean that up, moyashi."

"My name's Allen!"

The back-and-forth banter went on for a while, and Lavi remained in his seat in the next room over in an attempt to not be killed. Lavi didn't mind near-death experiences at the cost of getting in a good tease or two, but getting killed because Kanda was angry at someone else just wasn't fair.

The crackling noise was what finally had prompted Lavi to get up and check on the two. When Kanda prepared to follow through with death threats, Finders usually ran at the hiss of metal on metal, but what reached Lavi's ears now was something that resembled the happy popping of a fireplace devouring a log. Kanda's look of surprise surpassed Allen's for once, but mainly because the other boy's current form made it a tad difficult to express much of anything. The dark-haired exorcist had, most likely unintentionally, transformed Allen into an actual beansprout. Lavi, of course, had immediately jumped on the situation, with plenty of emphasis on the nickname, all the while almost rolling on the floor with laughter.

Kanda had stood and dumbly regarded his wand.

Speaking of wands, Lavi had been having a bit of trouble with his own lately. Not that he'd been unable to perform magic; he'd done fine with the simpler exercises in the textbooks. Hermione had even popped by sometimes to give him a tip or two, and Harry had, on many an occasion, offered to help. These offers Lavi cleverly turned down, so the green-eyed teen wouldn't have any reason to suspect that Lavi was avoiding him. Lavi's wand felt... unhappy.

It didn't like the junior Bookman-combination-exorcist for some reason, and Lavi hadn't seen any lack of 'getting along' with Allen's and Kanda's wands (especially noting the beansprout situation), so the problem probably wasn't with his being an exorcist. The wand seemed to do everything with reluctance, even though there was still the feeling that the wand was his, had chosen him and wouldn't be able to choose anyone else, if given the chance. It was more that the wand appeared to hold a grudge against the junior Bookman. Problem was, Lavi had no idea what he'd done.

"Lavi? Are you okay?" It was Allen's voice, tone tinted with worry, and Lavi was shaken out of the layer or cloud that his thoughts had formed. He took about two seconds to wonder how he'd gone from thinking back to the beansprout accident to wondering about the source of his guilty feeling and memory loss, and also a bit about how clouds looked similar to cotton candy - and how he loved cotton candy - before he looked up.

'I'm fine. Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?" The words tumbled out in a rush, uncharacteristic for the always-happy, fun-loving "Lavi". Worried faces surrounded him - the arguing pair must have stopped at some point to consult Lavi about the Timcanpy-beansprout incident, and Lavi knew how he must have looked. Faraway, blank, uncaring eyes filled with too much emotion, an expression that said too much about what he shouldn't have been thinking. His mask was slipping, and whatever fragile straps holding it together were coming loose. Or was it the mask itself cracking, crumbling apart at the edges? To make it worse, it seemed that everyone else in the house had gathered to see him slip up. Hermione was still there, joined by Harry and Ron, along with the twins.

"Lavi..." It was Allen again, in the gentle voice people heard from their families before they were sent off to mental hospitals.

"That's right, aren't we leaving for Hogwarts in a few days? We should start packing, right?" Lavi thought that was more likely the least subtle change of subject in history. The chuckle that followed sounded so forced that almost-visible shudders ran down his spine.

Kanda shot him a glare promising more interrogation later, and swept out of the room. The red-haired exorcist stood helplessly as everyone else filed out, pretending that nothing had happened. Allen was the last to leave, darting a final, worried glance at his friend.

* * *

Allen breathed a sigh of relief when the world stopped spinning. At least they were somewhere familiar now; exorcists travelled by train much more often than by Apparation. Lugging his trunk of textbooks, clothing, and other personal items (like Timcanpy) behind him, the teenager looked to the Weasleys for instructions on what to do next. Harry took over, giving commands in an understanding tone, as if recalling what it had been like for him when he was first introduced to the magical world.

Kanda looked disgruntled; he kept subconsciously fingering Mugen. Even though everything had been handled and sorted out with the Headmistress, the exorcists were still kept in the dark. Lavi normally would have wheedled some information out of the more loose-lipped ones (perhaps Ron), but the redhead seemed preoccupied with his own issues. Allen supposed that they would just have to wait and see.

Allen blinked and shook himself out of his thoughts just in time to catch the last of Harry's instructions.

"...on my count of three, I'll head through and give you an example." By the looks of it, Lavi hadn't been listening either, and the redhead was wearing an expression of utter confusion that didn't show up on the junior Bookman's face very often. Kanda frowned and looked at the green-eyed wizard as if the exorcist thought he must be joking.

Harry proceeded to run straight through a nearby wall, cart of luggage with him. All three of the exorcists' jaws hung open (Kanda, of course, remembered himself and snapped his mouth shut promptly). A few minutes passed in silence.

"He just passed through a wall."

"I know," Allen consoled Lavi, patting his arm.

* * *

Kanda thought he had had enough when the suitcases had exploded. He absolutely refused to go  _through_  a solid wall. And, by Kanda's logic, if he didn't go through the wall to the crazy school, they would have to send him back to Headquarters and give him a different mission. One that was preferably away from idiot rabbits and beansprouts.

Previously mentioned 'rabbit' turned to Mr. Weasley. The older wizard had mentioned something about "bringing up the rear". Kanda mentally noted that this was the one he would have to deal with when put his plan-to-refuse-to-go-through-the-wall in action.

"So," Lavi began, "do we have to run through it or can we just kind of casually shuffle through?" The man laughed.

"You can go through however you want. It's just easier for beginners to run at it." he explained kindly. Ron demonstrated by tripping and accidentally falling through the barrier. Lavi followed suit, bouncing confidently up to the wall and slipping right through it. Allen stared after him, shrugged, and muttered something about 'adjusting too quickly'. After a few moments of thinking, Allen followed Hermione (taking the traditional charging method).

Kanda was left to 'deal with' Mr. Weasley.

* * *

Allen hadn't realized just how many students would be going to Hogwarts. They were all milling around, some of them in robes but many in normal clothing. There were children saying goodbye to their parents and boarding the train to look for good seats; there were teenagers checking over their luggage one last time. There was a boy running around calling for his cat.

Allen suddenly felt a bit self-conscious, and attempted to hide his scar, hair and arm at the same time. It didn't work out very well, and he ended up just ducking behind Hermione. Lavi was running around with Harry and Ron, meeting people and asking questions. Allen was relieved that his friends seemed to at least have cheered up a bit.

Kanda chose this moment to tumble rather clumsily through the barrier. He fell flat on his face, then proceeded to scramble to his feet and glare at anyone within range, all the while swearing profusely. He was followed by a rather beat-up looking Mr. Weasley. Allen decided against asking what had happened.

* * *

By the time they had gotten everything sorted out, the train was incredibly close to departing. The small group of three wizards and exorcists each had to scramble to get on board in time. Harry mumbled something under his breath about having to look for a spare compartment every time, and proceeded to lead them down along the train, looking into compartments. The exorcists followed suit, with Allen smiling apologetically at everyone they disturbed, Lavi waving as if they were old friends, and Kanda indiscriminately glowering.

After a while of searching (and receiving a few odd looks), the group came across an almost-empty compartment.

"Neville, Luna! Good to see you again," Harry greeted the compartment's occupants with a smile. Introductions were made, complete with cover story for the exorcists.

"You seem rather odd. Have you been around any Wrackspurts lately?" Luna asked, peering at them, interested. She went on to explain how Wrackspurts were invisible and made your brain 'go fuzzy'. Hermione gave them a slightly apologetic look and mouthed that Wrackspurts didn't exist. Kanda just gave them all a half-glare and slumped into a seat, looking somewhat tired.

"Yuu-chan's been awfully quiet," Lavi remarked. He was rewarded with a full-on 'I think I might rip your head off without the help of Mugen this time' glare. Surprisingly, though, no biting insult came his way.

"BaKanda..." Allen began slowly, "did Mr. Weasley cast a Silencing Charm on you again?" His theory was confirmed by the slide of metal on metal.

* * *

Draco Malfoy had been having a good day so far. This was unfortunately ruined by what sounded like the wailing of a Mandrake. He had been on his way back to his own compartment from the restroom when the incredibly loud noise, now accompanied with the sound of running footsteps, began sounding closer.

A compartment door suddenly slammed open a few inches in front of Draco's face, causing him to utter a few choice words. Out burst a blur of red hair, though it was brighter than the Weasleys'. A quick glance into the compartment showed Potter and friends sitting dumbstruck. The Slytherin barely had time to process the information before another blur rushed out, along with the glint of what appeared to be a  _sword_.

The inside of the compartment was a mess. It appeared as if a tornado, followed by a stampede of flying pigs, ending with a procession of crazy first-years on brooms, had passed through.

The blur of red grabbed Draco by the shoulders with what could only be described as the panicked look of a cornered rabbit. By this time, one head of white hair had appeared behind the sword-wielding teenager, and an amused look was on his face.

"You gotta help me, whoever you are!" The red-haired teen cried, shaking Draco by the shoulders and causing the boy's head to whip back and forth.

The one with the sword and strangely long hair looked like he was attempting to growl, but no sound came out. The boy with the white hair snickered. The sword sliced downwards towards the redhead's neck.

The next thing Draco registered was the tip of the blade a wand's width away from his own nose, a surprised look on the swordsman's face, and a trembling redhead using the confused Slytherin as a human shield. The white-haired teen was laughing without restraint now.

* * *

Harry felt like he needed a vacation. Then the teenaged wizard realized that he had just finished one, and was on his way back to school. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair and he watched the irate samurai chase Lavi around. The other exorcist had poked fun a bit too much at Kanda, and he was now dodging with the maniac speed of one whose life was in great danger.

Harry had given up on being surprised a while ago. It took too much energy, and the young wizard had a feeling that he needed to save the energy to be surprised later. He decided to get up and move to a different seat right about after Kanda's sword embedded itself two inches to the left of Harry's ear.

At the moment, though, his least favourite Slytherin was being harassed by Lavi. Harry couldn't say that he was complaining.

* * *

"C'mon, Yuu-chan, just..." Lavi broke off when Kanda mouthed or rather, silently growled " _Don't call me that!"_. The exorcist went back to being a shaky mess behind the random stranger he'd grabbed. The apprentice Bookman hadn't seen Kanda this angry since... well, nobody needed to know about that. It had involved a lot of mustard, a bit of shouting, and had nothing at all to do with the current situation, Lavi realized that he really should stop his mind from wandering so much.

Lavi's train of thought (currently wandering very far off its original tracks) was interrupted by Mugen coming dangerously close to his eyepatch. Kanda seemed to be in a bad mood today, Lavi mused. Whatever escape attempt he'd tried earlier must have turned out rather badly. Not that it was Lavi's problem now, as the redhead was preoccupied with the task of staying alive.

Allen wiped the tears from his eyes after stopping his laughter at last. He wandered off to find the snacks that Ron had been going on about, leaving the other two exorcists to, ah, 'settle their problems".

* * *

By the time Hermione rounded everyone up to change into their robes, all three exorcists plus Ron were completely tired out. Ron had been dragged into an argument between Allen and Kanda - that had followed the game of Lavi-maiming - and the wizard ended up having to frantically come up with compliments for both of them, in case he offended one and was murdered in his sleep.

"I still prefer my exorcist uniform," Lavi whined, looking down on the robes skeptically. Allen made a noise of agreement, and Harry was busy trying to get Kanda to change while still managing to keep all his limbs intact. Ron had refused anything whatsoever to do with the entire situation, and was sitting in a corner with his arms crossed.

* * *

In the end, Hermione had to come in and promise to work something out with the Headmistress about the uniforms on the condition that they wore the robes just for tonight, to blend in. Kanda grumbled consent, but Lavi continued to complain, just for the sake of getting on everyone's nerves. Allen joined Lavi, as he was still inclined to disagree with Kanda whenever he had the chance.

They made their way out of the train and followed the general flow of students heading to the castle. A little after the first-years peeled away from the group to join Hagrid, the six stopped in front of the carriages.

"Huh," Ron remarked. "I still can't see the thestrals. You'd think, what with the war and all, that we'd all pretty much be able to see them, right?"

"Well, I  _can_  still see them," Harry replied, not particularly sure why they were having this conversation at all.

"Er... What are you guys talking about?" Allen asked, curious. Hermione gained a shocked expression, as if not believing that she hadn't mentioned this part of Hogwarts' history. The young witch immediately began a long-winded explanation, starting off with how most people are unable to see thestrals.

"What  _are_  you talking about?" Kanda snapped, still slightly irritable. He'd interrupted Hermione just as she was mentioning that she couldn't see them either.

"What he means is," Lavi explained patiently, "that all three of us can see the death-horse-thingies just fine." He tried to lighten up the statement by tacking a bit of a joke on the end, but the mood became serious anyway. Allen, who hadn't been listening and had been watching a cat weave its way through the crowd, became confused.

"...so you've all seen someone die in front of you?" Hermione asked quietly. Kanda scoffed and earned an elbow from Allen.

"What  _BaKanda means_  is that since we're all constantly fighting against akuma, pretty much every exorcist has seen multiple deaths."

"Akuma attacks cause a very high death toll," Lavi added as explanation. He started to say something else, but was interrupted by an invisible (at least to Ron and Hermione) force nudging his shoulder.

"Is that... thing... sniffing you?" Kanda asked, disbelief colouring his tone.

"Yup, now it's nuzzling him. Wonder why it likes him so much?" Allen noted, amused.

Lavi was tempted to point out that, as Bookman-in-training, he'd seen more deaths than the other two exorcists combined, but Hermione did it for him.

"...does that mean that Lavi's seen more... death than everyone else?" The half-question made everyone a bit nervous. Lavi was quick to change the subject.

"So, are we getting into these things or not?" he demanded loudly, at the same time gently deflecting the creature's continuing affection.

"Mm, yeah, sure," Harry mumbled distractedly, seemingly musing over something. Lavi noted this fact and, deciding that it may or may not have something to do with him and the amount of deaths he'd seen, shrugged and boarded the carriage.

* * *

They were led into the hall, but, as they hadn't been sorted yet, the exorcists had nowhere to sit. As a result, they were forced to march rather awkwardly to the front of the hall in order to inform the Headmistress of their  _problem_. She motioned for them to wait, so they stood off to one side and did so. Lavi took the chance to size her up. She had a stern look, but years of experience in reading people allowed Lavi to catch a certain softness in her eyes that told him that they wouldn't be given a hard time unless they 'misbehaved'.

She gave a short speech to the student body, mentioning last year's events and welcoming them to a hopefully more successful year. She seemed to hit all the right points, as her audience relaxed marginally with each word.

"And a final issue before you may begin eating: we have three new transfer students this year." The crowd immediately was riled up again, buzzing with curiousity at the mention of something that hadn't happened before, as far as they knew. Some of the students closer to the front noticed the exorcists, still standing nervously, and began whispering. Professor McGonagall held up a hand for silence, and they settled into occasional mumbling.

"Introductions will followed shortly after I speak with them about a few issues. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves." She turned towards the three boys. Allen was shifting nervously from one foot to the other, Lavi was letting his eyes wander around the Hall, and Kanda was still in a bad mood. The Headmistress didn't hesitate and launched into a brief summary of what would be expected of them, what would be provided, and why certain precautions were necessary. They would be sorted and would spend the day as regular students, blending in as much as possible and avoiding attention. To allow them time to discuss their mission - and to allow supervision of them - they would be given a separate dorm to themselves. The reason the students would be given would be that there wasn't enough prior notice to sort out rooms for them in their respective house dorms.

Speaking of houses, it had been decided that the exorcists would have more chances to gather information if they were in separate houses, and since they were rooming together anyways, it was best to aim for one exorcist in each house.

"If only Lenalee were here... Then we'd have all the houses filled," Lavi pointed out.

"Komui pulled some strings to get her on a different mission. He said something about the dangers of travelling with teenage boys," Allen explained, relaxing a little and eyeing the food.

"Well," Lavi shrugged, " _continue_." He made a sweeping gesture at the Headmistress.

-line break-

"...and the students will be informed on the basics of your 'mission', but please try to keep them from getting involved. It would be a... problem... if any students were harmed, especially considering last year's situation. Any questions?"

Lavi raised his hand Professor McGonagall nodded at him. "I heard you can morph into a cat?"

She gave him a strange look. "The correct term is that I am a cat Animagus, but yes, I can." Lavi raised his hand again. The Headmistress took on an expression that people usually attained after spending two seconds with Lavi. "Yes?"

"Are we allowed to wear our exorcist uniforms instead of robes?"

"For the sake of blending in, it would be best if you had on your robes during lessons, but, if you insist, you may wear your uniforms during your spare time. Now, if there are no additional questions," she paused, and Lavi shook his head a bit sheepishly, "we will begin with the introductions and Sorting."

* * *

They had proceeded with the Sorting of the first years as usual, and had saved the transfer students for last.  _So much for not attracting attention_ , Lavi mused as he pretended to ignore the whispers and stares directed his way. Allen still looked incredibly uncomfortable with all the sidelong glances and pointing, and Kanda appeared to be considering whether or not to turn the force of his glare up.

"Zeller, Herman." A scrawny-looking boy headed up and was Sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Now, the transfer students. Kanda, Yuu?" The samurai growled a little under his breath in protest of having his first name mentioned in front of a student body of over six hundred. He moved reluctantly from the side where he had been standing, not fancying the idea of a singing hat on his head and rifling through his mind.

_Hello. So you're one of the transfers? Oh? What's this?_

"Get out of my head," Kanda hissed quietly.

_Alright, I'll overlook your rather... unusual circumstances. Let's see which house you belong in, okay?_

"Wait... What are you doing? Stay away from those!"

_It's okay, I'll be done in a minute._

"Of all the..."

_You've been through quite a bit._

Kanda could almost hear the hat wince, however unlikely that seemed. Then he heard a chuckle from it.

_I think you'd fit well in..._

"GRYFFINDOR!" A few weak cheers rose from the table after a few of the older ones shook themselves out of their daze. Slowly, all the Gryffindors began tentatively clapping and cheering. They stopped instantly when their new member shot a glare at them.

"Okay, next. Hm? You're filed alphabetically under your  _first_  name?" the Professor looked inquiringly at Lavi. He gave her a reassuring smile that didn't fool her at all. He waved his hand in a gesture that clearly indicated,  _I don't care particularly to talk about it, just continue._

"Next up is Lavi," she relented.

The redhead sauntered up to the stool, even going as far as to flirtingly wave at some of the girls who were staring at him. He popped the hat on his head.

 _Hello. What's this?_ The hat pulled at a clump of memories tucked away and put under about ten different locking methods.

"Don't open that!" he hissed at it, urgency clear in his tone. The hat went ahead and did anyway. Lavi winced when he felt the hat recoil sharply from his head. Surprisingly, it settled back in after a few moments, composed.

 _I've seen a lot of strange things in my history. Memories from an actual recorder_ of  _history shouldn't have surprised me that much,_  it admitted.

"...don't blame you," Lavi muttered, barely audible. He silently cursed the hat and the entire mission.

_...let's ignore your memories for now and go with your personality, shall we? Well, really, your current one should fit under Hufflepuff, but even though I have nothing on your true personality, I have a feeling that your role would make you happiest in..._

"RAVENCLAW!" This time, having learned from the awkward silence that was the Gryffindor table, the Ravenclaws responded much more quickly. The cheering was subdued, despite their efforts, but Lavi ignored it and moved to an empty seat, slightly less confidence in his step.

"Last one. Walker, Allen."

The white hair and scar drew all eyes in the hall towards him. Nervously tugging on the gloves he'd pulled on earlier to conceal his arm, Allen avoided looking anyone in the eye and made his way to the hat.

_Hello there. You're the last of the transfers, correct?_

"Er... y-yes?" Allen stammered, unaware as to how to reply to a hat inside his head.

_Do you mind if I take a look through your memories? Your last two comrades didn't take to the idea very kindly._

"I'd rather not, but I suppose... if you have to?"

_Alright, here goes nothing._

Allen winced as his childhood came back in a brief flash.

 _Oh dear,_  said the hat to no one in particular.  _Shall we go by process of elimination?_ it suggested. Allen nodded, not realizing that he was nodding at something that was on top of his head. The hat slipped further over his eyes.

 _Ravenclaws are the first out. You just don't strike me as the intelligent type, masks or otherwise. No offence,_ it added, sensing the offended look on Allen's face.  _Your friend's been already placed there, so there's no use if you're trying for one in each house, is there? Next... the first impression you give is that you're a polite gentleman that belongs in Hufflepuff... But that one's out too, if your memories are anything to go by. That leaves Gryffindor and Slytherin. You're a very brave young man. Perhaps more than the first one. However, you also fit into Slytherin rather well._

Allen's face took on a confused expression.

 _Poker?_ The hat prompted.  _Debts? Cross? Black Allen?_

"Ah."

_For the sake of your mission, I suppose..._

"SLYTHERIN!" The silence was much larger than that of the Gryffindor table's. The entire school was wondering if they'd heard wrong. Lav smiled knowingly and Kanda shook his head in exasperation. The charming smile that Allen sent their way only threw the Slytherins off even more. Unfazed by the lack of response, the exorcist sat himself down and eagerly looked to the Headmistress. Still in a daze, the rest of the school followed his gaze.

"You may begin your feast."

Allen tore into the food as if he hadn't eaten for weeks. He was delighted that more food magically appeared after he demolished the first round. He turned to the frightened second-year beside him.

"Am I in heaven?"

"Erm... What?" By the time the poor boy responded, Allen had already gone back to conquering any food near him. The rest of his table sat and stared at him in a mixture of disbelief, disgust, and awe.

While Allen ripped his way through his second whole turkey, Lavi was chatting the ears off anyone who cared to listen (and quite a few that didn't). Most of his housemates were already wondering why he hadn't been sorted into Hufflepuff, which was exactly the reaction Lavi had been aiming for. Lavi's food sat untouched.

Kanda sat and picked at his plate's contents while the boisterous Gryffindors around him broke out into conversation and pandemonium. Kanda was fighting a battle of wills against an incoming headache, and the persistent headache was winning.

"This is going to be a long night," he muttered to himself quietly. Both of his companions were secretly thinking the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16


	11. Talks

**Talks**

The common room was packed with people, most of them whispering about the three new transfer students. The younger ones were excited, wanting to meet and maybe befriend them, while the older ones were a bit more wary of the strangers. Their nervous, darting, glances added to the flurry of movement in the room. Speculation was thrown around, guesses were exchanged, and facts were added up with observations.

Hermione had both Harry's and Ron's attention. She had called them over to discuss what they've noticed so far about the exorcists, and if any of it fit together anyway.

"We have the obvious: Lavi's been passing out, Kanda has a personality problem, and they all give off an aura of secrecy," she listed the points, counting them on her fingers.

"There is that eye that Allen 'forgot' to mention," Harry supplied, a little bitterly.

"Don't forget about Lavi's adoring thestral fans," Ron added, only half taking this seriously.

"Alright, let's focus on Allen first."

"He's hiding his arm," Harry mused. Ron fished out a chocolate frog from his pocket and unwrapped it. Harry shot him an unimpressed look and continued. "I've only really seen it once, when he was fighting the akuma earlier. The same goes for his eye." Ron bit into the frog. Hermione sighed.

"He seems nice, though," the Weasley mumbled through a mouthful of chocolate. "I mean, he doesn't seem like the type to join the Death Eaters," he quickly added.

"None of them do," Hermione agreed gently. "Well, except maybe Kanda, but, well…"

"The problem is that they're keeping secrets from us. We don't know what they're after if we can't trust what they've told us," Harry finished for her. "If what they need suddenly conflicts with our interests…"

"They  _are_  keeping a lot of secrets," Ron admitted. "Especially the Lavi guy. He has a bloody  _eyepatch_ , did you see?"

"He doesn't have a last name, either, and the thestrals were all over him," Harry added. "And… I'm not sure if it's just me, or…" Hermione started hesitantly, and both of the boys gestured impatiently, "his eye scares me a little. I mean, sometimes it just goes blank and…"

"What do you think we should do?" Harry mused. "About them, I mean."

"Tell a teacher?" Hermione suggested. Ron shot her an exasperated look, reading as  _I thought we've been over this already?_  "Well, we can always visit the library…"

"I really doubt that our library would have personal information on exorcists," Harry sighed. "You've probably been through three-quarters of it already, and if you didn't know anything about them, then…"

"I think maybe we should just follow them around," Ron spoke up suddenly, tossing the wrapper at a nearby garbage can and missing. "It worked with Draco, didn't it?"

* * *

The three of them were in their dorm. The Headmistress had given them a day off to plan their next moves. Since their main concern was to complete their mission, and not to gain magical education, they had been given permission to attend any eighth-year classes they needed to in order to gain information.

Allen suddenly sat up in his chair by the fireplace. "I've just realized something!"

"Good for you, moyashi, now shut up."

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Kanda's comment went largely ignored by the white-haired teen. The Japanese exorcist glared daggers at Allen, though not as heatedly as the day before. He was in a better mood after sleeping, so he let it go.

"What is it, Allen?" Lavi asked, stretching his arms out behind his head and yawning like a cat.

"We haven't contacted Komui at all!"

"You're right, we haven't. With all the excitement, we forgot, huh? Should we do something about it?" He feigned disinterest, leaning back in his seat and watching Kanda glare at Allen.

"We don't have anything to do right now, so we might as well." Allen grabbed Kanda's golem, just to spite the older exorcist, and turned it on. Despite Muggle technology being reputedly unable to function within Hogwarts, the golem sputtered to life.

A few minutes later they were connected to Headquarters and having a very heated argument with Komui about upsetting Lenalee by not keeping in touch. The Supervisor was sobbing on his end, blubbering something about how Lenalee had been so distracted by the news that she hadn't brought him coffee at all for two and a half hours. Allen was trying to calm him down, but his attempts at staying polite were failing. Lavi was just leaning back and smirking, while Kanda started to look aggravated.

"But, Lenaleee-" the man was cut off with a sharp thwack.

"Nii-san, they contacted us and you didn't even let me know?" he voice softened as she returned her focus to the boys. "How have you been? I was really worried, you know, you never lose contact for this long on missions! What happened?"

Allen was stuck with giving the mission report, as Kanda was clearly not a mood to help anyone. Lavi butted in regularly with details that Allen had missed, but as they progressed farther into the report, his comments started becoming more distracting than helpful.

"- for the rest of the summer. The shopping trip to Diagon Alley did involve us fighting an akuma, though… And then BaKanda got lost and La-"

"- there was one shop that sold brooms, did you see that one?' Lavi interrupted hurriedly, and Allen noticed that Lavi had stopped him every time one of his passing-out spells was almost mentioned. When Allen finished the report and Komui had suggested that they 'play it by ear', Lavi hung up almost too eagerly. Allen narrowed his eyes at him, and the redhead seemed very interested in the carpet of their dorm. He muttered something that Allen couldn't quite catch, and rushed off.

* * *

Allen had gone off to explore the castle, most likely also to stuff himself with food, and Kanda was left to wander by himself. He scared any curious students off with his trademark glare, and made his way through the halls. He had been planning to just drift around and maybe catch a few rumors about strange goings-on like he did every mission, but, as had most events recently, things weren't going as planned. It wasn't the easiest to do so when you were in a school of  _witchcraft_  and  _wizardry_.

To top it off, he had to run into the only three students that would approach him. They  _had_  to insist on showing him around the school and introducing him to people. He had a strong feeling that they were only there to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't murder any students. He sighed and went along. At least this way, he might be able to gather rumors more easily.

* * *

Allen was lost. It wasn't a surprise, but frustration welled up inside him when he realized that the amount of useful information he'd collected totalled up to zero. He had begun by stopping friendly-looking people in the hallways and asking them if there was anything strange going on recently. They always gave him a funny look, and some of them even implied that  _he_ was the strangest phenomenon right now. Allen supposed that they were right, but it didn't help with his mission.

He switched tactics and asked people, as politely as he could, if there was anyone who had a death in the family recently. He phrased his question a bit more carefully this time, so as not to offend but also specific enough to get him the right answers. The answers he received, however, were not satisfying at all. Despite his careful wording, the students still saw him as  _outsider_  and  _stranger_ , so they took offence immediately. Even the ones who stopped to reply properly told him that, with the war ending only last year, and with the final battle taking place at Hogwarts itself, it was difficult to find  _anyone_  who  _hadn't_  experienced the death of someone close to them recently.

He continued down the halls, wondering if he would have to resort to talking with the paintings. He also wondered how Kanda was doing. He doubted that the difficult exorcist would have had much success either, no matter how intimidating his glares were. His thoughts turned to Lavi. Allen would have gone after him, but seeing as he was lost and didn't have a clue where Lavi might be, it wasn't the best option at the moment. He sighed and stopped at a section in the hallway. Now that he was stationary, people noticed him even more than before. His white hair didn't help, he supposed.

Allen tried to ignore the stares and looks sent his way. He should have been used to them by now, but he still felt uneasy. His eye was feeling funny, and he wondered if it had anything to do with the magical barriers around the school. He supposed that his eye was a curse, so it would count as magical, but it was almost like the time he had first met Lavi. He could hardly see out of his eye, and everything was a blur. He doubted that he would be able to tell if someone was an akuma unless they were very close, and by then it would most likely be too late.

He didn't want to doubt the cheerful, gossipy students passing by him in the halls. He wanted to trust everyone, but it was difficult to when they were sending him suspicious glances, as if  _he_  were the akuma. It reminded him of the time before Mana. He ducked his head and continued walking forward, pretending not to see.

* * *

Lavi was in the library, rummaging restlessly through books but not really seeing any of it. His mind was a flurry of thoughts that he was frantically trying to sort out. If 'Dave' was between two of his previous alias, then even if he knew nothing about the mystery persona, he could still at least figure out when he had been going by the name 'Dave'. He did a quick bit of mental calculation.

"It was one of my earlier aliases…" he muttered to himself, startling a nearby first-year. "I  _did_  slip a lot back then, so it would make sense if…" he trailed off to continue inside his head. Years of keeping secrets had him subconsciously stop thinking aloud when he sensed people paying attention. And people were paying attention, some outright staring at the odd look in his eyes. Neither during the Sorting nor when they had passed him in the halls had any of them seen him anything but bright and cheery. Suspicion was added onto the load of talk already surrounding them.

If he had slipped, then Bookman would have had him change alias as soon as possible. If whatever emotion had carried on, though, he would have had to erase the persona completely. It didn't explain the memory loss, and the junior Bookman took note of that as a result of an outside factor, but now he had a few pieces in place. 'Dave' had recorded something that he felt he shouldn't have… Or, rather, something that 'Dave' hadn't wanted to record. He hummed again, redrawing the attention of the other library-users.

Without a word, he slipped the book he had in his hands closed and returned it to the shelf. He proceeded to do the same for the rest of the pile he had taken out, and, not even bothering to keep up his façade, he exited the library. Those sitting close to him would wonder at, later on, how he had replaced each and every book to exactly where he had removed it from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by the ingenious espeon16


	12. Strangers

**Strangers**

Kanda didn't like being negative, but this mission was really getting worse by the second. For the past ten minutes, he had stridden purposefully down the hallway, ignoring the three eighth-years trailing timidly behind him with a focused determination. Hermione had tried to stop him and introduce famous Hogwarts landmarks whenever they passed them, but after a while with no response from the dark-haired exorcist, she gave up and followed quietly.

The main reason for Kanda's irritation was that now they had reached the end of the hallway. The exorcist had to make a decision as to where to turn now, and, as he knew nothing of the castle's layout, had no clue which way he was supposed to turn. He adamantly refused to turn around to ask his guides which way to go, mostly because he wasn't sure where he was trying to go in the first place. He stopped in the middle of the passageway, earning a few half-muttered curses from Hogwarts students who had to swerve sharply to avoid bumping into the scary-looking transfer.

He was saved from Ron's annoyed "Why did we stop?" by a fast-travelling blur. The red-haired exorcist's face crashed straight into the swordsman's shoulder, much to the latter's indignation. A sharp insult had made its way out of his mouth- "Watch where you're going, baka usagi!"- before Kanda's brain caught up with the current events. This was the baka usagi, and Kanda couldn't for the life of him remember one time when the rabbit had barrelled into him as a result of not actually paying attention. There was that one time with the mustard and shouting and- but that, and the multiple other times the over-energetic Bookman junior had knocked him over, had been inevitable. Bouncing around in crowded places guaranteed a collision.

The point was, this time, Lavi had looked completely taken off-guard and actually surprised that he'd run into his 'Yuu-chan' here. Before Kanda could contemplate this and add it up with the fact that the last time the samurai had seen him, the redhead had rushed out of the room looking very distracted, Lavi's face split into a wide grin.

"Yuu-chan!" he exclaimed, almost shouting straight into the other exorcist's face (which was not appreciated). "Perfect timing!" The remark gave the impression that Lavi had been looking for Kanda, which, judging by the surprise on his face moments before, was exactly what he had not been doing. Kanda decided to pass judgement on his lying with a well-aimed fist to the stomach.

"Ow!" the red-haired teen whimpered, backing off. "What'd you do that for?" The question was more habit-induced than actual curiosity, as the answer was almost certainly something to do with invasion of personal space and Lavi's rabbit-ness.

"Get out of my face," Kanda growled, confirming Lavi's predictions. He searched the redhead's face for any signs of the previous distress, but found only a puzzled grin. Satisfied for the moment, he turned away and continued walking in the direction that his companion had been heading in before the collision. Lavi followed obediently, filling up the previously awkward silence with endless chatter.

They walked on for a while, Lavi having apparently recovered from whatever had been bothering him earlier. Kanda had just been debating whether or not to ask Lavi where he thought Allen was when a boy, looking to be in his eighth year and apparently not looking where he was going, stumbled to a stop with his nose about an inch away from Kanda. The exorcist growled at him, hoping he'd go away like all the others had, but just then Harry noticed him and called out.

"Hey, Ernie! How have you been?"

"Great, thanks," the boy muttered, and Kanda frowned. He didn't seem like the muttering type.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, voice soft as if afraid of startling him. Kanda frowned some more and felt Lavi snap to attention beside him. People spoke that way when talking to someone who, one, had lost a family member or someone close to them recently, and, two, had been acting strangely, presumably because of the loss. Experience told the exorcists that they were likely looking at an akuma.

"I'm fine, thanks," Ernie smiled, and Kanda was reminded of the blank gaze and empty smiles that Lavi had been sporting for the past few days. The one shown now, though, was familiar in a different way. It was the one that little girls with flowers, old ladies with canes, and cheerful children playing soccer displayed before coming up to him and morphing grotesquely into akuma. Kanda was vaguely aware that Harry was introducing him and Lavi to Ernie.

He couldn't whip out his sword and cut it down in public, though, at least not without proof. Lavi sent him a meaningful look conveying the same conclusion that Kanda had just come to himself. They would have to find Allen and have the younger exorcist look this boy over. Or, really, all he had to do was glance at him. They would have to keep the student close until they could locate the other exorcist.

The one thing that Kanda was still puzzling over was why the akuma didn't just attack. Since the dark-haired exorcist was rarely unsure of anything, he had already began to think of the boy as akuma, evidence be damned. Usually, akuma kept up the facade of being human only up until they discovered an exorcist, and then they would just do their exploding-ripping thing that scared most humans to death. This one was still in its borrowed (stolen) skin, chatting pleasantly with the wizards.

This meant that the akuma needed to complete some task before blowing its cover, and the task in question probably wouldn't be in the exorcists' best interests. Lavi had already started talking to the Hufflepuff, trying to pry information out of him subtly, but the wizard stayed mostly silent. When questioned about this from Hermione, he whispered something in her ear that Kanda could just make out to be about being a bit nervous around the transfer students.

Kanda growled a little at the akuma, mainly instinctively from the blatant lie, and the light-haired teenager chose that moment to turn around and grin at the two exorcists. It wasn't the ghost of a smile he had shown the three 'guides' earlier. It was sinister, and Kanda could easily imagine the face stretching and ripping into an akuma. He felt the redhead beside him give an involuntary shudder.

The angle was perfect, as when the akuma had turned his head in response to Kanda's growl, it had been away from the teenagers he'd been talking to. Lavi tugged him on the sleeve, and Kanda realized that he'd stiffened and his hand had been on a slow course to Mugen without him realizing. He itched to destroy the akuma, but one look from Lavi told him that killing something that would look like a student up until the time of its death in a hallway crowded with suspicious, watchful students was a very bad move.

The swordsman settled with another growl, and followed the group, keeping a small distance from the akuma. Hermione had on a confused expression, while Harry was sneaking Lavi suspicious looks. Ron was, apparently, daydreaming.

* * *

Lavi continued to chat the ears off of both Kanda and Ernie. The Hufflepuff akuma was looking very nervous, as if the exorcist would pull out his Innocence and strike him down any second, but the Japanese teen was looking veritably annoyed. Surprisingly, Kanda knew well enough to not threaten Lavi with his Mugen, as it would most definitely set the akuma off. Not to mention the fuss it would create if he pulled out a katana in a crowded area.

Neither Hermione nor Harry noticed the animosity between Ernie and the transfer students, passing it off as Kanda being his usual grumpy self and not even noticing the little difference to Lavi's acting, though they were sending both parties strange looks. Ernie because of his strange behaviour thought to be caused by the loss of his mother- mentioned earlier in their chat, before the creepy smile. The exorcists because, well, they were exorcists, and they were strange, and they were suspicious.

Ron, of course, was completely ignorant of recent happenings. He interrupted the tense (for the exorcists and akuma) but cheerful (for the sake of pretense) conversation with a casual, "Hey, where's Allen?"

Kanda stared at him. Lavi noticed the sudden stiffness in the Hufflepuff's shoulders at the mention of what could be another exorcist- read as 'threat to mission'. The junior Bookman wondered why the akuma was so tense. From experience, normal akuma would be smirking with triumph by now, after realizing that the exorcists couldn't attack it in public. Instead, the akuma was on edge, as if his mission was much more important than retrieving Innocence and killing exorcists.

Stares reminded Lavi that neither of them had replied to Ron's question, Lavi being too busy puzzling over the akuma and Kanda just staring at the wizard, as if the question had caused him to suddenly remember that he'd left the oven on. Figuratively speaking, as Kanda didn't cook, didn't own an oven, and would never forget to turn it off if he did.

"Sorry, spaced out a little there," Lavi tried to quickly amend the situation, as Kanda wasn't showing any signs of moving, presumably still musing over what he'd forgotten in relation to the subject of Allen's whereabouts.

"Did you now?" Hermione asked, a suspicious tone to her voice even as her eyes took on a distracted feel. She was busy trying to navigate the suddenly crowded hallways as a rush of students switched classes. Lavi stopped cold as something occurred to him.

"Why are you three here?" he asked, abrupt halt bringing the attention of all three to him. "I mean, why aren't you in class?" He understood the akuma's skipping, as it was probably towards whatever mission the Earl had sent him for. Lavi made a mental note to find out what it was later on. He was good at loosening tongues, even if the tongue wasn't human. The three other Hogwarts students, however, should have been in class.

All three looked away, reminding Lavi of children caught eavesdropping on their parents' plans to move to another country: guilty, but not at all regretting that they did. Lavi realized that it wasn't very unlikely that they had been also given a day off by the Headmistress, just to keep an eye on the transfer students. He gave up on the question and moved to the original, which still hadn't been answered.

"As for Allen, I actually have no idea where he is. I... kind of left the room a bit early last time I saw him," he admitted sheepishly. Kanda grunted at the understatement.

"Baka moyashi didn't tell me where he was going. He's lost," the other exorcist stated, completely certain. Lavi winced. That added to their problems, as they needed Allen right now, and 'lost' didn't tell them very much about the white-haired boy's whereabouts. Though he supposed Kanda was right. Allen was so good at getting lost, it was almost a talent.

Sighing, he resigned himself to a long day of walking around the castle with three too-curious (not that Lavi was one to speak) teenagers under orders to observe them, an akuma, and a grumpy 'Yuu-chan'. At least he would be able to get a feel for the layout of the castle. He had a feeling that they wouldn't find Allen until the very last place they looked in the school. Allen's 'talent' included getting lost in places where anyone looking for him would not think to search.

* * *

Road bounced over to Tyki, twirling Lero in her hand. Tyki stood to greet her, pulling his lighter out. The girl skipped over and stopped in front of the taller man.

"Please tell me this isn't about your homework," the man sighed, looking as if he would leave if she answered in the positive.

"Nope," she said cheerfully, and the poor umbrella-golem was subjected to another round of swinging.

"Then this is about the... that?" he asked, changing his answer at the last moment to something much less specific.

"Yep. I wanna see Allen again soon, so I went and asked the Earl if we could move earlier."

"We can't move at all until the akuma finds us a way in," came the reply, much less enthusiastic.

"We can still take a walk around that little village nearby, you know. The one called..." she paused, thinking. Lero breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's got a pig in the name. Wait, it's on the tip of my tongue... Er..." he frowned. Then he huffed, giving up. He slumped against a wall in defeat.

"Dead piggies!" Road exclaimed happily, remembering the last conversation they'd had regarding exorcists and magic.

"R-road-tama," Lero panted, catching his breath. "Remember to pay a visit to our guests, lero."

"That's right, we have some things to... discuss."

Tyki shivered. "Anyways, we can go on that walk you mentioned soon. I don't have any missions at the moment, and I admit I am growing bored."

"Yay!" Road spun around, trotting happily out of the room. Tyki leaned back, wondering what the surprised exorcists' expressions would look like when they had their little 'reunion'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by the brilliant espeon16


	13. Lessons

**Lessons**

The next morning was set aside for lesson catch-up. If the exorcists were to pose as transfer students, they had to have some basic magical education, or else the students would start asking where they transferred  _from_. There wasn't too much to learn; the three had spent the remainder of the summer cramming everything they could from Hermione's old books. They had found Harry's and Ron's more useful, however, as the boys tended to make notes directly on the pages - whereas Hermione wouldn't even  _dream_  of doing such a thing - and it contained rather interesting tidbits.

Most of what they still needed to learn was practical things. They had been able to practice a little bit of potion-mixing and minor spellcasting back at the Burrow, but Mrs. Weasley had decided that it was better to let the teachers handle the flying lessons. They were now on the field, and had gathered a small crowd of students that had spotted the transfers. They had been hoping for some privacy, but with so many students milling around, it was inevitable that someone would catch sight of them and spread the word.

Madame Hooch was currently trying - without much success - to send off any students that she knew were supposed to be in class. The ones on their free periods had every right to wander around on the field, and it would raise suspicion if they too were sent away, so they settled with the iffy cover story that the new students needed to 'brush up' on their flying skills, as they didn't often use brooms where they were from.

Allen hoped desperately that none of them failed too miserably. Maybe he could pretend that he was sick, and couldn't fly today? He was already a little nervous about going up, and the crowd of spectators was making it worse. Before he could put his brilliant plan into action - brilliant plan meaning going up and timidly asking the slightly-intimidating instructor if he could go another day, that is - the exorcists were called up to start the lesson.

As Madame Hooch went over the basics of flying on a broomstick, Allen glanced around. Lavi was standing rather nonchalantly, and Allen wondered why until he remembered his first "flight" on Lavi's hammer. Kanda was fidgeting, looking more uncomfortable with the crowd than he was with the flight.

"Up!" the witch demonstrated, and the broom hopped willingly into her hand. She nodded at them, indicating that they should try.

"Up...?"

Lavi's broom tipped up from the ground, handle end first, but at the last second changed its mind and flopped back down. Allen's twitched on the ground, and rolled over, as if sensing that the white-haired boy didn't really want to fly. Kanda's skidded a few feet forwards without him.

"Screw this, I'm leaving," the short-tempered exorcist growled, turning and making to leave. Madame Hooch shot him a stern look and he reluctantly settled back into place. Allen shifted uncomfortably, subtly scooting a little farther away from Kanda. He didn't feel like being murdered today.

"Alright, that was a good try," the teacher began, quietly so that the other students wouldn't overhear and guess that it was the three's first time on brooms. "Now, again, and day the command firmly."

A few tries later, and Lavi was able to have the broom stay for a little more than a second in his hand. Whenever the command was issued, the broom would jerk up, seemingly against its will, before firmly slamming back into the ground. Allen heard Lavi mumbling that it was the same as his wand, but gave no further elaboration when the boy sent him a questioning look.

Kanda's seemed too eager for the samurai's taste, and kept trying to take off by itself. It writhed and danced in the air, a few inches off the ground, before Kanda glared at it. It floated lazily up, but only a foot or two. Kanda threatened to snap it in half. The broom inched away a little before deciding not to risk finding out whether Kanda was faster than it or not, and flew at Kanda's face. The (by now very much irritated) exorcist managed to catch it, and glared burning holes into the handle. Allen thought the whole exchange reminded him quite a bit of Lavi's daily near-death experiences.

Allen's own broom was still as reluctant as the teen, and he was glad for that. It gave him an excuse to not leave the ground. Then Lavi suggested they switch brooms, as the redhead's didn't seem to 'like him', and Allen secretly cursed the older boy. They switched, and Lavi had about a half-second's more success than with the previous.

Unfortunately for Allen, Lavi's old broom seemed to have picked up some of the redhead's spirit, despite 'not liking' him, and flew up readily into Allen's wary hand, as if wondering how the boy would fare up there if it  _did_  listen.

That was how they ended up, Lavi with a struggling broom, Kanda with one trying to escape for different reasons, and Allen could swear that his was smirking at him. They mounted, each with their own difficulties, and with some last instructions from Madame Hooch, they were off. Allen's broom wobbled a bit at first, and then decided that the white-haired teen would look better on the ground, and proceeded to speed forward, still wobbling crazily.

Instructions were shouted up to him, but they were lost in the rush of air in Allen's ears as he flew faster. He tried to turn when he saw the edge of the Forbidden Forest coming up, but only succeeded to lean a little to the left and tilt up. It worked, although Allen still preferred to stay on the ground, and soon he was soaring very, very high up.

After checking to make sure that he didn't throw up or fall off, he decided that it wasn't too bad. At least he wasn't travelling as fast as they had that time on Lavi's hammer, right? The moment that the thought made its way across his mind, the broom put on a little burst of speed, and Allen had to fight to turn it and keep it going around the field in long, sweeping circles. Wider turns were easier than sharp ones, and this way, even if he couldn't get down, the exorcist wouldn't fall to a rather messy death.

* * *

After watching Allen to make sure that he wasn't going to kill himself anytime soon, Lavi went back to the problem of his own broom. The magical form of transportation didn't seem to be working out very well for him. It responded to his nudges and tilts, but a second slow, as if it really didn't want to. The feeling was the same as with his wand, as if he'd betrayed the magical objects - or, really, what would make more sense would be to say that he had betrayed the magical  _world_  - in some way.

He relented and allowed the broomstick to float at its preferred height (about five meters- sixteen feet- off the ground) and tilted his head up to watch Kanda. The swordsman was not a natural with brooms, by any stretch of the phrase, but it seemed that he was doing well. Doing well against his will, but still doing well. The broom coaxed him to go higher, faster, farther, and he really didn't look like he had much choice in the matter. The way he held himself, though, was a confident enough manner to convince the crowd below that he'd been doing this ever since he was born.

Lavi watched as Kanda's broom had him do a sloppy loop before refocusing his attention to his own flight. By the time Madame Hooch called them down again, Lavi had mastered most of the basic turns that he'd found in the books, and had adjusted to the extra time it took for the broom the obey him.

The crowd dispersed only when it became clear that there wasn't going to be anything more to see.

* * *

They had decided to stick together for the morning classes, mainly because they needed Allen in case they ran into the akuma again. By majority vote (which consisted of Lavi happily shouting out suggestions, while Allen tried to get him to quiet down before Kanda murdered them both, although he came close to doing anyway), the three had decided to take Charms in the morning with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and then follow them to Transfiguration. Lunch would be spent exercising their poor team-decision-making skills.

Their Charms professor didn't comment much on the transfer students, and only told them to introduce themselves briefly before allowing them to take seats in the back. It was much easier to avoid the staring when sitting somewhere anyone would have to twist their necks badly to see. It was evident that the professor  _had_  noticed, though, as the small wizard proceeded to announce that they would be taking this class to review some of the less advanced Charms.

" _Accio_!" Objects began flying around the classroom as the students took the chance to brush up on their basic Charms. Lavi was summoning small objects and attempting to balance them on Kanda's head without him noticing, Allen was trying very hard to summon edible-looking things out of other students' backpacks, and Kanda was summoning medium-sized pointy things that he could then fling at Lavi.

One of Lavi's summoned objects (a red cushion) missed its target and landed on Professor Flitwick's head instead, and the man hurriedly made an excuse and left the room. Once the restless teenagers noticed the teacher's absence, messier spells began being tossed around. After all, the teacher hadn't specified exactly which spells counted as "less advanced".

An  _Aguamenti_  hit Kanda in the back of the head, and the classroom exploded (figuratively speaking). Kanda unsheathed Mugen and swung it at the closest person, which happened to be Allen. The other exorcist retaliated by shooting the first spell he could think of at the dark-haired teen. A  _Depulso_  (Banishing Charm) hit Kanda head-on, and he was shot off to the other side of the room, mowing down a third of the class on the way.

Lavi took this chance to send a simple  _Confundo_  at the murderous swordsman, minimizing the casualties. Just for the sake of it, the redhead shot a few more off in random directions, and soon around a dozen people were staggering around, blinking and running into objects and other people. Most of the rest were on the ground, knocked over when Kanda had been sent flying across the room.

Hermione glowered at Lavi for disrupting the class, and set about trying to un-confuse everyone. Lavi took it upon himself to make things very difficult for her, and started sending cushions around the classroom. A few people joined in, and soon it was a repeat of the Water Balloon Incident. Lavi, grinning, used the distraction to keep himself from thinking.

* * *

Allen watched as the classroom slowly transformed into a disaster zone, and idly noted that Professor Flitwick would regret escaping, however good a choice it had seemed at the moment. Kanda was raging at anything and everything in the room, but unable to seriously maim anybody since Lavi had stolen Mugen and passed it to Hermione to 'confiscate'. The young witch had readily agreed, seeing the likelihood of severe injuries. A few students, such as Neville, were cowering in corners and fervently wishing that it would be over soon. Some unluckier souls found themselves trapped in the middle of the conflict, which consisted of Lavi throwing snippets of spells at two opposing groups and making them think that it was the other group that had hit them. This did have its downsides, however. Lavi later walked out of the classroom covered in a sticky orange-blue substance that no one could identify.

Allen ducked his head to avoid a flying chair, and settled back in the fort he had made for himself. The white-haired boy had long ago run out of spells, not having remembered everything in the textbooks, and resorted to building a wobbly, leaning wall of textbooks and cushions in front of the section of wall that he was currently leaning against. He found out that textbooks and cushions are not good materials to make walls out of rather quicker than he would have liked. The exorcist was quickly buried in pages, cushions, and disapproving words from Hermione regarding the 'mistreatment of books'.

When Professor Flitwick returned from his 'discussion with Professor Sprout', the classroom looked like a battlefield. He sighed, attempted to find the culprit - Kanda couldn't give Lavi away because no one had bothered to remove the Confundo - and decided to let them go after cleaning up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16


	14. Something's There

**Something's There**

Lunch was a relatively normal affair. Relatively normal, in this case, didn't count for much. The events of the past few days - really, ever since the exorcists had arrived at Grimmauld Place - had been very far off the normality scale. It didn't take a lot of effort to make something 'relatively' normal now.

So, really, compared with the fuss that Allen had made at breakfast with the owls and letters, lunch was a fairly peaceful meal. It involved the usual threats from Kanda, the biting insults directed at the dark-haired exorcist from Allen, and the egging on from Lavi. Even when they were seated at separate tables, they still managed to stage an entertaining back-and-forth argument, and soon numerous bored students were watching intently. In a way, they were similar to the Finder audience; rumours would soon be spread about ill-tempered Kanda's disputes with gentlemanly Allen. Rumours would also state that Lavi was still as first impressions showed: cheerful, carefree, and a formidable prankster. Nothing showed that what some students had noticed in the earlier days were anything but illusions, tricks of the imaginative mind.

After lunch, the exorcists decided to split up. Harry watched as Lavi headed towards History of Magic with Hermione and as an overenthusiastic Ron dragged Allen to Care of Magical Creatures. He was left with Kanda. Sighing, the wizard set off towards Potions class.

"If you don't have any other class to go to, you can follow me to Potions," he called back over his shoulder to the grumpy exorcist, half-hoping that the other boy would refuse and leave him alone. Harry had only asked because, if Kanda didn't have anywhere to go, it wouldn't be nice to leave him there by himself. It was a large school, and one could get into all sorts of trouble when left to one's own devices. Harry noted, with some dark amusement, that he had learned most of that the hard way.

To his surprise, Kanda followed, albeit a fair distance away. Harry supposed that the exorcist had been thinking along the same lines, and had decided that the peace he would enjoy by being alone wasn't worth getting lost. They walked for a bit in almost-companionable silence, drawing plenty of stares. Whether they were directed at the Boy-Who-Lived or at the 'strange transfer student', Harry wasn't sure. It might have been both.

Once they arrived at Potions, Harry took his usual seat, and Kanda grudgingly took the one next to him, as it was the only one vacant. Professor Slughorn boomed out the class schedule, and left them to their own devices. Harry snuck a glance to the side. Kanda was sitting there, staring at the textbook as if it were written in a foreign language. To him, it might as well have been. The seventh-year textbooks were filled with magical terms, and if the exorcist hadn't done any reading (which seemed likely), then the ingredients list wouldn't make much sense to him either.

Harry began his potion, quietly waiting for Kanda to ask for help, and not really expecting him to.

* * *

Hagrid had decided on a rough lesson plan that involved mainly interaction with various magical creatures of the students' choice (there was a Thestral group organized to head into the forest, another all-girls group for unicorns, a few who opted to stay and 'watch' the Flobberworms, and a larger part of the students heading to work with the Nifflers). The lesson kind of fell apart after Hagrid had given the class a brief description on the proper care and handling of each animal, and the class split up. The Flobberworm group completely ignored their charges, instead frantically catching up on missed homework for other classes.

Hagrid didn't seem to notice, and came over to Ron and Allen. Allen was glancing nervously around at the various living things. It wasn't really the animals that bothered him; it was just the fact that Hagrid tended not to soften the potential dangers of each animal when explaining them. Ron wasn't looking as uncomfortable as Allen, though, so the exorcist tried to relax and see which group looked the most appealing (and least dangerous). The large man wandered over, engaging in conversation with the redhead, and leaving Allen to look around by himself.

A few students were tentatively interacting with the hippogriffs in one corner. The students were bowing and either patting gingerly or escaping frantically, depending on the half-eagle creature's response. Allen watched for a bit until Hagrid noticed his interest.

"Wou'd yeh like ter go see the hippogriffs? Proud creatures, they are. Here, I'll show yeh around," he said, and, with little regard for Allen's answer (or lack of), took him by the arm and dragged him over to the hippogriffs. Ron followed, curious.

The half-giant ran through standard hippogriff procedure, showing a bewildered Allen what to do in the case of a hippogriff attack. "Of course, yeh'd do much better jus' not provokin' 'em in the first place. Like I said, proud creatures."

Allen, with no other choice, approached the hippogriff. He was almost nervous enough to forget to hold eye contact, and, remembering at the last second, gazed unblinkingly into the orange-tinted eyes of the nearest hippogriff. He had a brief moment of panic as he forgot what to do next, and was planning out his will when Ron whisper-shouted to him, "Bow!" Allen bowed, holding his breath in nervous anticipation. He might have been in contact with life-or-death situations ever since he could remember, but he certainly hadn't imagined any of them involving a magical eagle-horse ripping his head off.

That really hadn't been his preferred method of dying.

Thankfully, the hippogriff lowered its head as well, and Hagrid congratulated him. Allen reached an uncertain hand out to stroke the feathery head, and thought that maybe magical creatures weren't as bad as they could be.

* * *

Lavi had tagged along to the History of Magic class mostly out of a sense of duty as a Bookman, and also with a bit of curiosity as to what the actual lessons would be like. It turned out that the teacher was rather dull, and Lavi was reminded of hours shut up in his room, scribbling down translations and logs and copies and who knew what else for Bookman. Professor Binns entered the room through the blackboard.

Lavi started a bit when he saw the ghost, but calmed down and noted the fact that the teacher was, indeed, already deceased, as he had heard from many students. He also noted that the students were settling down for long naps right in front of the teacher. A few even had pillows with them, and Lavi wondered why until the Professor started speaking. The redhead tried to listen, but he'd already read most of the material from the textbooks, and had it memorized word for word.

He turned to a boy next to him who looked a bit too restless to sleep and initiated conversation, keeping up his reputation for being 'friendly' and gleaning information at the same time. Multitasking was what he did best, after all. That was how Hermione found him, mind drifting off to ponder 'Dave' at the same time that it was recording the boy's answers and keeping up the conversation, all the while scribbling nonsensical notes down to pretend that he was paying attention to the teacher.

"Lavi!" she hissed under her breath, and he snapped out of his thinking. "Are you paying attention?" It took him a moment to realize who she meant; he was supposed to be paying attention to a lot of things that he wasn't. The boy didn't realize this fact, and continued his conversation with the cheerful persona.

"Of course I am," he whispered back, trying to sound offended. Even if 'friendly' meant blending in and not listening to the teacher, it didn't mean that Hermione hadn't noticed his studying of the textbooks during the summer. He had many appearances to keep up.

She didn't look convinced. "Alright, then you should know what caused the bursting of the 14th century economic bubble," she tried, attempting to catch him off-guard.

"The Soap Blizzard of 1378," he replied easily. It had been one of the first things he'd read, as it was studied during first year. It occurred to him, too late, that Hermione might have been testing him because she'd picked up on his photographic memory, not because she wanted him to pay attention in class. She'd done nothing to stop many of the other students from falling asleep on either side of her. Lavi made a mental note to not underestimate the girl.

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, further confirming Lavi's theory. Then the look cleared and Lavi, had he been anyone other than a Bookman' apprentice, might have thought that he'd imagined it. She turned away before he could ask any questions, so he returned to pestering the boy beside him.

* * *

Kanda had thus far refused to ask for help, resulting in him having barely started on his potion. Harry was halfway through his own, and kept glancing over at the exorcist with barely-disguised concern. They were attempting to make Amortentia, and Professor Slughorn kept leaning over shoulders and bellowing, "Remember that mother-of-pearl sheen!" or "Note how the steam rises in characteristic spirals!" Harry noticed that the man never came close to Kanda, though, and the young wizard wasn't sure whether it was because of the rumours of Kanda's violent tendencies or just because of the general strangeness of the transfer students.

Harry had to agree, though, that the exorcists were strange. It didn't mean that they weren't human, though, Harry supposed as he snuck another glance and saw the dark-haired boy puzzling over the textbook. Kanda finally snapped, hands curling into fists, and made to get up. Harry wasn't sure what he was planning to do, so he reached a hand over and touched Kanda on the sleeve to stop him. Survival instincts took over as Kanda snapped his head around to glare him, and he removed his hand very quickly.

"If you need help, I can- I mean, with the potion- er..." Harry attempted to form a coherent sentence, stammering as Kanda glared daggers at him.

"Che," went the exorcist, and unexpectedly sat down. He shot Harry an expectant look, laced with irritation.

"See, you have to make sure all the ingredients are cut up in the right way, and put in in the right order. You can't stir it that way, Kanda... No, it does matter which way, it'll explode otherwise... Oh. There, see? I'm sorry!" Harry made a mental note here to never say anything close to 'I told you so' to Kanda. "So, put that in there,  _counterclockwise_ , remember, there you go."

Slughorn had been unwillingly nudged in their direction by an ingredient-seeking student, and reluctantly made his way over.

"That looks good," he commented with a hint of surprise. Kanda went 'Che' again, and, startled, the professor complimented Harry's potion and walked off briskly. Harry noticed that Kanda might have been secretly pleased, as he didn't threaten anyone's lives until the end of the class.

-line break-

They had been in the dining hall, each at their own separate tables. Allen was going through his food like a vacuum cleaner on full power, much to the displeasure of his housemates. Lavi was still at work keeping the rumours surrounding him free from anything suspicious, and Kanda was still glowering and scaring many younger Gryffindors. Professor Lupin, whom none of the three had had a lesson with yet, was at staff table, looking worried. Lavi was sitting the closest, and his keen ears did what they did best: collect information.

"...although, I still haven't found that Boggart," he was saying to Professor Flitwick.

"The Boggart that you brought in to teach the students with?" the smaller man asked.

"Yes, that one. It escaped during a class, you see. One student was afraid of a headless horseman, and the horse galloped off when the door was left open. It's probably somewhere dark inside the castle by now."

"Weren't you able to stop it?"

"Another student was having troubles with his wand. It wouldn't stop turning things- and people- into fish. It was troublesome to turn everyone back before they ran out of oxygen."

The first thought Lavi had in response to this dialogue was that it must be very difficult to hold a class when everyone was turning into fish. The second thought that his wandering mind generated was to wonder how Lupin managed to avoid being hit. By the time logic caught up to his brain, he was on his twelfth thought, which was to wonder why the door had been open, and only then did it occur to him that having a Boggart on the loose was bad.

He'd read about Boggarts back at the Burrow, when days had been spent either romping around with the twins or memorising anything he could get his hands on, once he'd finished with the textbooks. It had been in one of the Weasleys' old third-year textbooks. When he'd been reading it, it had briefly occurred to him that if one of the exorcists were to run into one of those things, it wouldn't end up so well.

Because who knew what their deepest fears were? Both Allen and Kanda, Lavi was certain, had seen many things. Lavi himself wasn't sure what his own greatest fear was. Anything exorcists fear would most likely be a danger to the students and staff here, as well as the exorcists themselves. Lavi hoped desperately that Lupin would be able to capture the Boggart before things got out of hand.

Lavi's luck had been down recently. Looking back, it could have also been the fact that the magical world seemed to hate him. Maybe the suit of armour, sitting so innocently in a corner of the dining hall, had moved deliberately to act against Lavi's wishes.

Either way, the Boggart decided that now would be a good time to leave its temporary shelter. The suit of armour rattled fiercely, and Lavi cursed under his breath when he saw the students in one corner of the hall start to panic, and an ever-shifting shape moving among them. Floating head, resurrected Voldemort, bloody weapons.

This wasn't turning out to be a good day for Lavi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16


	15. What is Your Greatest Fear?

**What Is** **_Your_ ** **Greatest Fear?**

Allen had been halfway through a plate of treacle tart when the screaming began. He looked up, startled, and the slice of chocolate cake that had been perched precariously on a stack of plates and an apple came crashing down, leaving his hair covered in chocolate icing and crumbs stuck stubbornly to his shirt. He brushed them aside, distracted. Had the akuma broken into the school? Even if it had, Allen wouldn't have been able to see its soul unless it was only a few feet away from him. His eye was getting worse, after all.

Standing up to get a better view, he looked over the heads of panicking students to the source of the commotion. There was an empty area where the students appeared to be vacating as fast as possible. The teachers were standing up as well, some trying to figure out what the fuss was about, and some already heading over. The centre of attention appeared to be a rapidly-shifting mass of  _something_ , and Allen caught glimpses of giant spiders, snakes, and a number of other things that looked like they were supposed to be scary.

Allen remembered Lavi telling him about the creature that showed you your greatest fear. The redhead had been bored, and had decided to lecture Allen on a number of things from textbooks that he wouldn't remember anything from, even if he did read them. The older exorcist had gone on and on about how the Boggarts were non-beings, which meant that they didn't die but were never alive either, and some other things that Allen didn't remember. To tell the truth, he was surprised that he even remembered this much.

He knew enough, however, to understand that Boggarts, no matter how relatively harmless they were to a wizard or witch, would be a bad thing for an exorcist to run into. He made eye contact with Kanda from across the room and gestured with his head to join Lavi, who was already making slow progress out of the room.

The crowd was an ocean of moving bodies, feet tripping over cloaks and arms flailing and grabbing at anything close to keep their balance. Allen tried his best to not get squashed as he tried to avoid stepping on people's toes. He earned an accidental smack on the head for his efforts. Despite the improbability that an akuma would have kept quiet and in human form during all this ruckus, Allen couldn't help but feel a little unnerved with being in the midst of so many people. Especially when his eye wasn't working as well as it could.

He soon lost track of the other two, focusing instead on trying to follow the general flow of motion and trying not to be pushed or swept back to where the Boggart was. He almost thought that his eye was going to activate one time, but dismissed it as a figment of his already nervous imagination. Just as he managed to get close enough to see the door, a cold hand grabbed his right arm and pulled him back through the crowd. His squeak of surprise and shouts of protest were drowned out by the noise and bustle of the crowd, and he was dragged back, struggling the whole way.

* * *

Kanda was, to put it simply, confused. He hadn't bothered to remember anything that Lavi had attempted to cram into his brain, and as a result, he had no idea why everyone was rushing towards the exit, Allen and Lavi especially so. Catching Allen's eye, however, he did as told (or gestured) and headed towards the exit. He was shoved into Lavi along the way, and was surprised to see the redhead's lips set in a determined line, eyes showing that they really needed to leave, now. Kanda didn't ask any questions, due to the noise making it near impossible, but Lavi still managed to catch him up on why everyone was evacuating the dining hall.

If it had been up to him, he wouldn't have been running off. He might have stayed and helped, or faced the Boggart if there was something to be gained from it. But nothing really would be, he had no choice in the matter (the flow of students was unstoppable now), and he was a little reluctant to find out what his own greatest fear was. He was pretty sure it would have something to do with his time at the Asian Branch, and he was perfectly happy to avoid that.

He whipped his head around when he heard a familiar-sounding cry. He caught a glimpse of white hair, moving in the opposite direction of the door, and immediately made to follow it. He faintly heard Lavi's confused "Yuu-chan?" but soon Lavi was no longer within earshot. By the time he'd caught up with Allen, the younger boy had already been dragged within a few meters of the Boggart. Without thinking, he drew Mugen and leapt towards the akuma that had been holding Allen, briefly registering that this akuma wasn't the one he had met before while with Lavi.

Pushing the thought that there was more than one akuma infiltrating the school out of his mind, Kanda sliced the akuma, still in student form, in half. Shocked gasps and screams filled the air when he did so, and he realized grimly that there was going to be a lot of explaining to do after all this. He looked up just as the akuma dust cleared and Allen's eye deactivated. Too late, he realized that they were much closer to the Boggart than he had wanted to be, even though the teachers were much closer.

By this time, Lavi had forced his way through the crowd. It had been much simpler than both Allen's and Kanda's paths, as most of the students still in the hall had come to a standstill, watching Kanda with a mixture of fear and disgust. A shout from the hallway outside the dining hall interrupted the silent staring contest Kanda was holding with the rest of the students.

"The walls are closing in!"  
A terror-stricken fourth-year sprinted back into the hall, with everyone else who had managed to leave following close behind. A few teachers started to make their way back to the door to see what was going on, but in a few moments it became clear.

The walls of the hallway were, indeed, closing in. Kanda could see, even from his position at the other end of the hall, the bit of visible hallway warping into strange shapes and moving together. In a few more minutes, the door had been swallowed entirely. Thankfully, the walls made no move to eat up the rest of the dining hall, and the students closest to the door breathed a sigh of relief.

It was clear that the situation was much more than just an escaped Boggart now. Some unknown force was causing the castle to act against the staff members' will, and one of the transfer students had, in the other students' eyes, just murdered someone.

A chilling laugh filled the air, and everyone froze. "Long time no see, exorcists."

* * *

Lavi's stomach plummeted. The childish voice continued to giggle about how bored she had been, and how much fun it would be to play with the exorcists again, but Lavi wasn't listening. Kanda was looking around frantically, trying to find the Noah, and Allen was looking rather pale.

"Don't worry, I'm not really there. Or here, whichever you prefer. Millenie wanted me to wait for a while before we- Whoops! Not supposed to tell you that," she giggled again, sending shivers down many students' spines. "The pesky magical barriers aren't letting me create a door to there, so I'll just have to settle with this instead." As if on cue (maybe it was), colourful candles popped into existence around the Boggart. They floated around and created a roughly-shaped square around the exorcists and the Boggart, leaving out the baffled teachers.

"Won't this be fun?"

* * *

The Boggart, still in the shape of Professor Lupin's fear, the full moon, slowly drifted over, approaching Allen. Lavi watched, helpless and immobile from Road's restraining candles, as the Boggart began to shift. Allen's eyes grew wide as the creature took the form of his master first, trying to unravel the boy's complex memories. Cross stumbled for a bit, drunk and angry and armed, before the Boggart decided that Allen wasn't really too scared of this.

The next change was closer. Lenalee, bleeding her life out on the ground. But Allen still wasn't shaken as the Boggart would have liked, as the white-haired boy had an expression that showed he was struggling away from fear with the reasonable thought that it was impossible for Lenalee to be here. It slowed down its change this time, taking almost a full minute to stretch and rip the girl's face into the grotesque features of an akuma. This one caused Allen to quiver imperceptibly, a miniscule shaking that only Lavi's trained Bookman eyes could detect. Then the akuma self-destructed, and it appeared that the Boggart, although able to replicate the akuma's soul, was unable to make it invisible to everyone else.

Screams rose from the crowd of students behind him as the screaming, tortured, dead fell into non-redemption. Lavi put a hand over his mouth. This image still didn't manage to satisfy the Boggart, even though Allen had sunk down onto his knees and was crying silent tears. It had been a Level Four's soul, and Lavi wondered how Allen dealt with it. The non-being shifted into another form.

This one was much friendlier, and some of the crowd behind them uttered confused noises, reminding Lavi that there was an audience. Mana's smiling face, decked out in clown make-up, looked out at them. He reached a hand out to Allen, and the shaken, confused boy took it, forgetting where he was. He looked like he thought that he was small again, and that akuma and the Black Order and the Noah had all just been a bad dream. There were still crumbs of chocolate cake in his hair and on his sleeves, adding to the childish look. 'Mana' spoke.

"Allen," it began, and the boy in question looked up, his face a picture of innocence. The creature that wasn't Mana slowly began bleeding from what looked like the wound that had killed the real Mana. As the skin began to harden and the face started to deform, it continued to speak to the now horrified Allen. "I never loved you. You were always just a replacement for Nea." Allen let out a whimper, eyes wide.

Now fully in akuma-form, it started to screech. Profanities at Allen for 'killing' him, heartfelt proclamations of his love for his 'son', but following them up by repeating that it had never been Allen, but Nea, that he had truly cared for. Allen was seated on the floor, knees up to his chest, head in hands, and screaming back, just as loud, but not the slightest bit coherent.

A movement to his left caused Lavi to jerk away from staring at Allen. Kanda had snapped, and it seemed that Road was ready to let them switch, as the samurai could move freely. Lavi tested his limbs. Still frozen. The swordsman strode over to the Mana-akuma-Boggart and grabbed Allen roughly by the arm. Pulling the boy up, he snapped at him to stop crying and realize that it wasn't real. His head snapped back as he realized that the Boggart was starting to transform into his own fear, and shoved the still-dazed Allen over to where Lavi was standing.

The Boggart appeared to be having a hard time deciding what Kanda's fear was, as it was melting away the Mana-akuma's form very slowly, and it appeared that the machine was made out of snow. This allowed enough time for Allen to regain a bit of composure, but, by then, Road had already secured his movement. Lavi looked back to Kanda and realized why the older exorcist had made sure that Allen was far enough away before the Boggart finished shifting.

Kanda was having a face-off with what Lavi recognized as Alma Karma. This wasn't the Alma that Allen had described to Lavi after the battle, though, as this one was much younger and without the Dark Matter that had turned him into an akuma. This Alma wasn't the young, cheerful soul that Allen had seen in Kanda's memories, either. The Alma that Kanda feared was the one standing in a room in the Asian Branch, surrounded by all the dead bodies of the laboratory staff and the 'sleeping' Second Exorcists. This one had his Innocence activated, feathery blades sweeping out from his arm and dripping with blood of comrades.

The Boggart hadn't managed to duplicate the setting or the bodies, but its blades were still dripping with blood. Its legs and arms were splattered with it, and the Alma-Boggart had an eerie smile spreading across its face.

"Yuu, do you know whose blood this is?" fake-Alma asked, and the room seemed to go silent.

"You're not real," Kanda growled back, but Lavi could see, from his eyes, that he saw the rest of the scene from that day. "Alma's dead," but his voice cracked on the last word, and Lavi could tell that he was trying to convince himself.

"It's my blood," croaked a different voice, and Lavi looked back to see that the Boggart was now a dying Allen. It hadn't spent even half a minute in that form before it shifted to Lenalee, Tiedoll, Marie, and now Lavi. All were soaked in scarlet, and all claimed the blood to be theirs, before the Boggart shuddered with one final change. For a moment it was all of the dying comrades and Alma at the same time, a blend of voices, "You're not ready to die yet, are you?"

The last image was that of a lotus in an hourglass, slowly withering away.

* * *

Kanda knew it wasn't real. Lavi was right there, a few meters away, perfectly fine except the fact that he couldn't move. Allen was with him. So why were they in front of him, dripping blood and soaking the ground in a pool of crimson? Why was Alma here, talking to him? His mind, at least the logical part, kept telling him that it wasn't real, it wasn't possible.

It was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't when everything was red and covered in lotuses. Petals falling, blooming, withering and dying. Red and white and pink and red.

* * *

Road was having the time of her life. First, Allen Walker,  _her_  Allen, looking so cute with that despairing face on. It was a hard decision to let the pretty-boy go and interrupt, but it was his turn next, and who was she to deny him a shot at facing his greatest fear? And she could still watch Allen, quivering like a leaf and very adorable.

She had to admit, the long-haired one was kind of interesting. She hadn't pegged him as the type to fear his friends' deaths, but then again, she wasn't the best judge of character.

She remembered the redhead. How could she not? He  _had_  figured out how to harm her inside her Dream, after all, being the sharp boy that he was. She also remembered how much fun it had been to play with him. She wondered how his dream would be without her controlling it?

* * *

It was Lavi's turn. He could move again, but still he was hesitant. Maybe Kanda could handle it on his own. Maybe he didn't have to go and face the Boggart. But his eyes told him that Kanda was shaking, the samurai's eyes were not cold and indifferent for once. The exorcist had even allowed emotion to show on his face, for goodness' sake! Still Lavi was hesitant. He would have to decide soon. Allen would be able to tell that the arms supporting him were not frozen stiff but shaky with tension.

His Bookman mind told him that he had two choices. From what he had seen of Road, she was one to make hasty decisions depending on her mood. It was likely she'd be pleased if he gave up, knocked out both Allen and Kanda- a challenge in most situations, but not difficult now- and let her take him home. As a doll or as a Bookman, it didn't matter. That was what Bookman had taught him, to value his life over anything else. It didn't matter what the others would think of him. What mattered were the records, and if he died, Bookman wouldn't have an apprentice. Recording the war would be just as well on the other side. That was what Bookman had taught him.

The second choice was to suck it up and take his turn. That was what 'Lavi' would do. This decision, he thought wryly, would tell him just how much he had blended into his persona.

He let go of Allen, setting him down gently on a nearby bench. He had almost forgotten that they were in the dining hall, and on a crazy impulse, Lavi shot his audience a smile. He walked over to Kanda, touching the dark-haired exorcist on the sleeve. Kanda followed his hand motion back to where Allen was.

Lavi's turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16


	16. Slipping and Falling

**Slipping and Falling**

Hermione had been shocked when she'd heard what Kanda had done. Padma Patil had leaned over and whispered (rather loudly, as there was no hearing her over the noise otherwise) to her the exact, gruesome details of how the dark transfer student had brutally dismembered an innocent student. Hermione suspected that the story had been distorted a bit after being passed around by gossip-happy students in such a confusing environment, but the gist of it was clear. Kanda had killed a student.

Of course, it was difficult to hold on to any one thought when disembodied voices were supposedly moving the castle's walls, but Hermione liked to think of herself as a very determined girl. She could mull over the 'problem' and force her way through a crowd of students at the same time. Her multitasking was brought to an end as her gaze fell upon the circle of candles. Or, more specifically, what was in them. The young witch joined her schoolmates in staring wide-eyed at the exorcists' Boggarts, shifting back and forth. She hadn't come across records of more than a few shifts for Boggarts to get the fear right, and even when there were such cases, the forms were usually very similar variants.

She watched as Kanda shook his head slightly, an irritated gesture that somehow lacked the ferocity that Hermione had come to expect from him, and it had her eyebrows furrow for a second. Something else caught her eye, however. The previously unable-to-move redhead had twitched slightly, giving away the fact that he was unfrozen. Her eyes narrowed as Lavi made no move to help his comrade, and her judgement of him changed slightly.

When he did move, he set down Allen with considerable care, and you could tell that he tried his best not to startle Kanda. The considerate actions seemed sincere, but it only made the girl realize that everything he had done up until now had been much less so. She could see that he moved with clear reluctance, and Hermione would have been understanding in any other situation (it was a difficult thing to face your greatest fear), but she had a feeling that his reasoning wasn't only based on something that simple.

She set her mouth into a frown and leaned forward to see what would happen.

* * *

Lavi knew that Bookman would kill him for this. But that was only if he found out, Lavi supposed, his persona's mischievous side coming out for a brief moment. In his ever-wandering mind, he described his slow, hesitant footsteps with much flourish, choosing words like 'chary' and 'diffident' for the record that would most likely never make its way onto paper. He wondered what his fear would be. Some sensible side of him whispered that he already knew, but he chose to cheerfully ignore it.

"Give it your best shot," he half-whispered to the Boggart, in as confident a voice he could manage, and stopped a small distance from the creature. It responded by shuddering slightly in its hourglass form before ripping into something larger. Bookman stood in front of him, not looking pleased. The expression on his face was something akin to some deep disappointment that Lavi had become familiar with enough that he could tell a very self-esteem-crushing, guilt-inducing speech would follow. He didn't even bother flinching. True, Lavi dreaded falling short of his mentor's high expectations- and it was something that didn't happen very often, despite what one would expect- but Lavi was far from forgetting that this wasn't real.

As if hoping not to upset Lavi's expectations again, the Boggart took a longer time to decide its form. Lavi squared his shoulders, waiting, and all the while knowing that this was a terrible idea. So much, much simpler to try and please Road than it was to go along with her plans. But some previously non-existent honour wouldn't allow him to back out of this part in this twisted play. He had to follow his lines in the script, or at least for now.

The non-being settled, at last, into its chosen form. Lavi remembered this, because Bookmen never forget. He sometimes wished that he could. The little girl with only came up to his waist, but he remembered being at just the right height to pull on her braided pigtails. She smiled at him, like she had done back when they'd met, when 'Nate' had promised to protect her. Her smile fell when he didn't respond, valiantly battling against his emotions and telling himself over and over that it wasn't real. Outside, he appeared indifferent. Nonchalant, even.

"Why didn't you warn us that they were coming?" she sobbed, stepping closer. He stepped back unconsciously, staring wide-eyed and  _remembering_  everything. He was expecting the red, red flower exploding in her stomach (a stomach wound was one of the most painful ways to die, Bookman had once told him) and predict the equally bright crimson spurting from her gasping mouth. She was calling his alias' name, again and again.

As she fell to the ground, her shape blurred and stretched, becoming an older boy. The boy was looking up at him, tears glistening in eyes that refused to let them fall, because he had spent long nights up talking with 'Zane' about how real men don't cry, and the too-young soldier stretched out a hand.

"Zane? Is that you? Buddy, help me... One last favour... My family..." he was cut off by a series of bloody, hacking coughs, and a final bullet through the side of his head stopped him short. He melted into a pool of blood, which then twisted and curled up to form a pretty-looking girl. 'Matt's' pretend-crush.

She laughed her soft laugh, "sweet as the spring rain" would be how the overdramatic 'Matt' would have described it, and her. He kept silent as the assassin from that day crept up and plunged his blade through her chest. Or was there an assassin there? A Boggart could only change into one thing at a time, that he remembered. His mind was filling in the blanks with his impeccable memory. As the thing shifted from one form to the next, 'comrades', 'friends', 'companions', dying screams filled the air, and the ground turned bloody with imagined gore. Piles of bodies.

He grasped onto the one solid fact, stopping him from drowning in too-vivid memories: "They're not real. It's not real. Even if they were, they would be ink on paper. Just like how Allen, Kanda, Lenalee, all the others  _should_  be." He hadn't noticed when his thoughts stopped being Lavi-thoughts and started being Bookman-Junior-thoughts.

The creature changed into a shape more familiar than most of the others. His own frightened green eye stared into an exact copy, this one cold and hard and unforgiving. Just like the rocks at the bottom- No. Focus. Red hair mirrored red hair, the same bright shade. Same as the blood spilled on those rocks...

"Hello,  _Lavi_. Having fun?"

"...not real," he muttered, his silent mantra becoming an outward one. "You're _not real_."

"But who are you to say that? Are you not the one who is  _not real_? The one who was supposed to be  _temporary_?" Face sneered, but no emotion escaped. Because there  _wasn't_  any in the first place. Startlingly, he jerked and arched, suddenly warping into 'Luke's' partner. They'd promised to always watch each other's backs. Cold, was what Lavi told himself when blood started flowing; he was cold, and that was why he was shivering. Back to Lavi's twin image.

"Are you starting to  _care_ , Lavi? All the others had been completely fine when they'd stood by and watched their closest  _friends_  fall. What's wrong with you?" Somewhere in the back of Lavi's head, in the Bookman part that he hated so much- without ever admitting, because hatred was a biased emotion- he was dimly aware of the crowd behind him. Possibly watching him with disgust, or confusion, or worse. Were Allen and Kanda hearing this?

"You're slipping, Lavi. Slipping and falling,  _hard_. When did you become so attached to ink? To love the characters in the history books?"

"Not real," he managed, so quietly he might as well have been only moving his lips. Was anything real, really? His friendships with the other exorcists, with the Science Division, with  _Yuu-chan_  and  _moyashi_  and maybe even  _Panda_. Relationships meant nothing if you were a Bookman-in-training. They weren't supposed to mean anything. Maybe everyone else was just pretending, too, not really caring for the cold, heartless Bookman Junior? If he could lie, why couldn't they?

"Why are you doing this? Are you trying to become an exorcist? A hero? You know the truth, though, with storybook heroes and heroes of war. Don't you, Lavi?"

He took out his wand from his back pocket. " _Riddukulus_ ," he whispered, loud enough for people nearby to be able to tell what he meant, but still deathly quiet. Speaking of which, he was now as pale as a ghost, and still trembling. The wizards should really work on their central heating, Lavi's in-denial side noted. His wand arm was hanging limply at his side, and the spell hadn't really had any effort put into it, so, of course, nothing happened.

"You're pathetic, you know that? Hey, Lavi, when you die, can I have your body? Oh, wait, that's already a given." His smile was mocking, but Lavi couldn't really find it in him to care. "You know, I  _am_  you."

Of course Junior was Lavi, what was he talking about?

"What I'm saying is that since Boggarts build upon your own memories and mind, I already exist inside you." Lavi thought for a moment that he's asked the question out loud, but realized with a shudder that- "the informative voice in your head is me.  _The word 'persona' was taken directly from Latin_ ," the mirror image mimicked, matching the tone exactly. Not that it was difficult, as the Boggart was taking this straight from his thoughts.

"Do you know what that means, Lavi? It means that _your greatest fear is yourself_. So really, who are you?"

Lavi wondered when his continued mumbling had turned from " _It's not real_ " to a steady "No, No, no, no. Please. No..." And when he had started backing up, away from the ammortal creature so much that his back was now pushed rather painfully against Road's barrier. When he had started shaking his head, tears streaking down his face. When he had started not caring about honor, or Road, or anything  _but getting away from the truth_.

"I  _don't_  care," he attempted a protest, it coming out louder than he had meant it to. It continuing and revealing more than he ever, ever wanted to, in any situation. Never aloud even to himself in an empty room, let alone hundreds of strangers and two of the people he cared for the most. "I don't care about humans. They're greedy and cruel and selfish. A Bookman has no need for a heart," he choked out in a strangled kind of voice, close to sobbing. He sounded much more similar to a broken-down, whining child than he would have liked. He continued repeating random, scattered lines from Bookman's teachings to himself, because, really, talking to the Boggart was talking to himself.

Keeping quiet, watching, recording. He was a failure as a Bookman, he knew. Was he a failure as a 'friend' as well?

At this thought, the Boggart shifted yet again, into the unmoving, scarily still form of one Allen Walker. It was the memory from the night with Tyki Mikk, when everyone had thought he was dead, and when Lavi had made the fatal choice of keeping the Ace of Spades with him. It twitched a little, and the clothes and state of his hair, complete with cake crumbs, changed into the current Allen. Every little detail was there, from the wrinkles in his clothing to the length of his fingernails. Lavi didn't need to turn his head to know that the real Allen was still there, probably despising him for being who he was. He slumped down, sliding along the invisible wall and letting it support all of his weight. His hair fell into his eyes when he hung his head, but he hardly even noticed anymore.

Lavi understood. This was a glimpse of what could be, or, rather, what would be. He was Bookman, he would live to see the deaths of all his 'comrades'. Shifting to Kanda, in his perpetual frown, bleeding his life out. Too many times hurt, so that his lotus had lost all of its petals. To Lenalee, looking like she had fought to the last breath, her legs battered and her hair out of place. Komui, Miranda, Marie, Johnny, Reever, Jerry,  _Bookman_. Lavi's breath caught with the last one, but really, he should have seen it coming, because he was a successor, and of course the old man would die before he did.

He shook himself. He was starting to think that the bodies in front of him, so crumpled and  _dead_ , were real. He really was turning out to be a horrible Bookman.

Road's cheerful voice broke the near-silence, making every single person in the hall jump out of his or her skin. Even Kanda showed surprise, which was startling in its own way. Lavi made a mental note to check if he was all right or not later, without wounding his pride.

"Oh no, Millenie's calling me. So sorry that I have to leave now... I hope you all had fun! I did," she laughed, "you know. Well, see you soon!"

And just like that, she was gone. The castle's walls receded, leaving the entrance open for exiting once more, candles poofing away. Lavi fell with a soft thud when the barrier holding him up ceased to exist, and his head made a cracking noise on the floor. He lay there until the students, rounded up and herded back to their dorms by the teachers, became a threat to his currently not-trampled-on head. With heavy reluctance, he pushed himself up and found Allen and Kanda with his eye.

Following them back to their shared dorm, Lavi wondered, if he wasn't the happy-go-lucky persona or the heartless Bookman Junior, who exactly was he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16


	17. Defense (Mechanisms)

**Defense (Mechanisms)**

Allen yawned, sitting up and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. The covers slipped off him, and he shivered at the unexpected loss of warmth. Stretching his arms above his head, he tried to remember why he was still incredibly tired, as if he had spent all of last night thinking about something. Before he could be distracted by the realization that he couldn't really remember much of last night, or even last afternoon, his gaze fell on the patches of sunlight filtering in through the window. Sunlight? But it couldn't be that bright out this early in the morning. Curious, he glanced over at the clock.

"BaKanda!" he squeaked at the older boy in the bed beside his, tumbling out of his own bed and landing ungracefully on the floor. "Get up, we're late!"

The dark-haired exorcist's response was an irritated grunt and a swing of his fist in Allen's general direction. The younger exorcist was grateful that Kanda was either too sleepy or not serious enough to actually aim, and he dodged it with ease. He inched towards the bed nervously, trying to put together another plan of attack. The first morning after they had begun to share a room, Allen had discovered two things. One, Kanda was always the first to get up (again, Allen was grateful that he wasn't immature enough to do something to Allen in his sleep). Two, if somehow (the 'somehow' being when Lavi decided to play a prank) he had to be woken up, Kanda was  _not a morning person_. Or, at least, not the type to appreciate a rude awakening.

Allen decided on a hesitant shake of Kanda's arm. The other teen turned over suddenly and whacked Allen on the head. The white-haired boy rubbed the spot (making his already sleep-rumpled hair even messier) and mentally took back the remark about Kanda being mature.

"Shut up, moyashi. I'll be up in a second."

"We don't  _have_  a second!" he retorted, back into panic mode. "We're late, we're late, we're late..."

"I've got it, go wake up the baka usagi," Kanda growled back, heading somewhere else to change and get ready.

Allen pulled himself up and headed over to the mentioned "rabbit", calling out a quick "Wake up, Lavi, we're late!" before leaving to get ready himself. He didn't stay to make sure that Lavi got up, since the redhead was a surprisingly light sleeper. He usually pretended not to hear Allen, but the younger exorcist assumed that being late would catch his attention.

A few moments later, Allen- with his pants only half-on- heard Kanda call out, causing him to jump a little and lose his balance. Tumbling to the ground, he caught the last of the insult/call for help. "...baka moyashi, quit taking as long as Lenalee to get ready and get over here, the usagi's not waking up!"

There may have been a note of panic or something disturbingly close to concern in Kanda's voice, but Allen chose to not mention it and to live a little longer. He prefered a cause of death other than Mugen-through-the-stomach. Limping back to the room, he noticed a change in Lavi's sleeping position that he hadn't seen in his rush earlier. The red-haired boy was curled up stiffly, a contrast to his normal sprawled-all-over-the-bed.

"Lavi? Lavi, wake up," he called softly, shaking the other exorcist's shoulder. A twitch, but no other response. "Lavi," Allen insisted, prodding him in the neck firmly. Just then, he happened to catch Kanda's eye, and the haunted look, along with the faint scent of chocolate cake, put together the fragments that he remembered of last night. "Junior." One final, violent, shake, both hands on his shoulders, desperately because Allen (and maybe even Kanda, though he wouldn't ever admit it) was scared that they had lost him forever this time. Lost him to Road, again.

To both exorcists' obvious relief - Allen sighed and Kanda's shoulders relaxed marginally - Lavi stirred. Blinking, he looked up, confusion settling on his sleep-ridden features. The junior Bookman's eye, however, was dull and flat, and Allen frowned when he noticed.

As if noticing the upset look on the other's face, a light flickered on weakly in said eye, wavering and threatening to extinguish at the slightest mention of last night's events. Noticing too late that something was wrong, that both Allen and Kanda wore worried faces (okay, only Allen, but if one looked very closely, they could maybe make out a slight slant to Kanda's mouth...), Lavi bounced out of bed and pasted a smile on his face.

"Why's it so bright outside?"

* * *

Lavi was having a dream. That was the only explanation, if Lavi was seeing familiar things that he'd never seen before. A red-and-gold bed, set in a similarly coloured bedroom. Dark, dreary walls with what seemed like heads on them. A much warmer atmosphere, where many children were present, and kindly parents made playthings move and presented them with cookies. A small, friendly-looking cottage. Flashes of light, green and blue and red and orange and green again. A letter in neat handwriting, a picture of a small boy attached. The boy was on a broomstick, and - was the picture  _moving_? And then something was singing, though Lavi had a distinct feeling that he had passed onto another, much less meaningful one.

"...vi, wake up. Lavi." A voice drifted through from the waking side. He briefly remembered this being the same voice that had interrupted the very first of these dreams, that time on the train. It seemed like so long ago. But wait. Who was Lavi? He felt like this was very important, that he knew who Lavi was, because he had been wondering it when he went to sleep, hadn't he?

"Junior." Lavi gave a start, though he hid it well enough that not many people would notice. He opened his eyes to worried-looking faces, and he had a feeling of deja-vu. He was determined to cover up his slips better than the last time he'd been surrounded by concerned people, so he slid off the bed and conjured up his best smile. His best  _fake_  one, he amended. The room was eerily silent, as if the other two occupants were afraid that speaking would do something to the fragile sense of almost-peace.

"Why's it so bright outside?" he broke the silence, as no one else seemed to want to. Allen sighed, pretending it to be out of exasperation, but Lavi saw the relief hidden beneath it.

"That's because we're late for class!" the white-haired boy scolded, waving the alarm clock in Lavi's face. Lavi looked slightly bemused before his expression cleared in understanding. "That's right, we're late, and now we've probably missed the entire first class because you wouldn't get up!" the younger boy stopped, as if realizing that he was close to bringing up the subject all three of them were trying very hard to avoid. Although in Kanda's case, it was simple to maintain the same indifferent silence he had on every day.

"If we're late, shouldn't we be going instead of standing here and yelling at me?" Lavi pointed out, pulling on a shirt and looking for the rest of his clothing.

"We won't be waiting for you outside," Kanda replied, heading to their next class.

* * *

Kanda did end up waiting for the redhead, but only because he didn't know which class they had decided to go to today. Lavi was in charge of memorizing the school layout and the eighth-year schedules, and Allen was not someone you could rely on to bring you to the right classroom. So the impatient man waited in the hallway until the 'rabbit' caught up, greeting him with a stiffer-than-normal smile and leading them down paths and around turns that all looked the same.

It was near one of the walls-pretending-to-be-doors (seriously, this place was a death trap designed specifically for Allens) that Kanda bumped into a fifth-year girl. The student's eyes flew open wide, and she quickly backed up, retreating with her friends. Slightly curious, the Japanese exorcist paused for a moment, catching snippets of their conversation.

"...killed Heather!...monster...and did you see those Boggarts?..."

As they walked, Kanda focused more on passing students and their gossip. Normally, he wouldn't have cared, but this could affect their mission, and Lavi certainly wasn't of the mindset to do any eavesdropping. The single green eye was unfocused, dull and clearly thinking over something else. From what the swordsman gathered, the students were mainly concerned with the 'murder' Kanda had committed and the amount of blood involved in each of their Boggarts than they were about Road's voice and her control of the castle. Of course - and here Kanda mentally scoffed - they would be more suspicious of an immediate threat than they would be of an inexplicable one. Moving walls and random voices were probably a common occurrence for them.

The events of last night had shaken him more than he would have expected, but he wasn't showing it. Something had clearly changed in Lavi, though; Kanda could tell whenever he gave the red-haired teen a sidelong glance.

His posture was hunched, different from the usual, confident slouch 'Lavi' would sometimes have. His eye was shining, impossibly bright and dull at the same time. The most noticeable change, however, was the quiet. Kanda had become used to, almost fond of (though he would threaten a quick death for anyone who found out) the never-ending chatter Lavi was known for. The cheer, the meaningless facts, and even the teasing was absent. It was unnerving.

Upon closer inspection, Lavi appeared to be musing over something that was causing him to  _show emotion_. A hint of guilt, a touch of regret, bucketfuls of worry, and blank frustration were all evident on the face that was never supposed to be showing anything but  _fake_. It had been what annoyed Kanda the most, but now the exorcist could see why he did it. It was- Kanda was saved from attempting to find a word that fit the situation (he wasn't Lavi, the walking dictionary-thesaurus-encyclopedia three-in-one combo) by, ironically, the redhead himself.

"We're here!" Though his tone was bright, it lacked something that Kanda, frustratingly, could not place. He made to shove past the person making him  _worry_  (Kanda Yuu didn't do worrying, it was just not-Alma putting him off, that was all) and enter the classroom, but Allen grabbed hold of his sleeve - remind him to kill the brat later - and pulled him aside.

"Kanda," the boy began, and the dark-haired exorcist could tell that he wouldn't like this conversation at all. "Kanda, do you remember what happened last night?" The older man stiffened. No wonder the kid was acting so much less abnormal than expected. He had, after all, been in shock for most of the night - his Boggart had been first.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he demanded, startling Allen a bit.

"I- Lenalee, but it wasn't her, and... Oh, my God." Gray eyes widened. Kanda nodded curtly and turned to leave. This problem was settled, the 'beansprout' remembered, and he could go watch the other problem now. Knowing Lavi, the redhead would probably manage to get himself into some sort of trouble in the few seconds the talk had taken. Not surprising, considering that one time with the mustard...

* * *

Lupin swept his gaze around his classroom. The overall atmosphere was gloomy and speculative, with most students whispering about the events of last night and the rest brooding quietly. None of them, he noted with a mix of exasperation and amusement, were working on the task he had just assigned them. Not that he would expect them to be focused. He himself almost wanted to find another teacher and gossip like a schoolgirl. Another glance provided that none of the transfer students were in the room, and bits and pieces of conversations revealed that they likely hadn't been in any of the first period classes either. He could understand this reasoning; they would need to recuperate after  _that_ , and he had a feeling none of them would want to face the pointing and stares and the talking behind their backs.

Which would explain his surprise when, in the middle of giving another set of instructions (that, of course, no one was paying attention to), the door slammed open. A by-now familiar head of red hair - and one currently much talked-about - burst in, effectively disrupting his class with much fanfare.

"Am I late?" It was a rhetorical question, but Lupin answered anyway.

"By one class and thirty minutes. Take a seat, if you will." He gestured to one of the fewer empty desks, close to the back of the room. "Are your companions joining us?" As soon as the question was asked, however, the poor door was flung open again, revealing the angry Japanese transfer student.

"We're late," Lavi supplied helpfully. Kanda sent him a glower for his trouble and plunked down in the closest empty seat, crossing his arms and looking for all the world like a kindergartener who was trying to ignore the teacher. Upon further thought, he was doing exactly that, not even glancing over to acknowledge Lupin's authority.

"I'm not going to ask about the other one, because as soon as I do - and there he is. Thank you for not abusing my door," he added when Allen poked his head around, gingerly prodding the still-ajar door. The thing looked like Kanda's slam had been a little too much for it, and it was now making little creaking noises.

"I apologize for being late, sir, we overslept, and-" the boy began, frantic-sounding and scanning the classroom for somewhere he could sit.

"It's alright, as long as you're here now." He turned to the rest of the students, whom had all gone silent as soon as Lavi had come in. "Let's do something else, shall we? It's clear that you're having trouble staying on task with the current one." Some of the students had the good grace to look sheepish at this, while the others simply blinked at him, feigning innocence. Lupin sighed and turned to find something else for them to work on. Most of what he had planned was written study, and he doubted anything productive would get done at this point in time.

"We'll work on review. All of you know how to deal with Grindylows and Hinkypunks, I hope?" His question was met with nods and affirmative grunts. "You may only use the spells I write on the board, and you may partner up to practice some of them. Would some of you be so kind as to bring out a Grindylow and a Hinkypunk from the next room over?" At this, a few students sprang up, apparently glad for the opportunity to gossip outside of class and procrastinate a little. He sighed and turned to write up some spells that they were a little less likely to kill each other with.

* * *

After a while, the class had settled into a comfortable routine. A little less than half of the students, hoping to improve their grades, set themselves to practicing  _Lumos Duo_ s and  _Relashio_ s on the assigned Dark creatures. The remainder had stood up, but were shuffling around and shooting too-obvious glances at Kanda, who was standing almost awkwardly in the middle of the room. It seemed like he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing, but Allen, practicing half-formed spells in a corner of the room, completely ignored him.

For a moment, Lupin thought that Lavi had slipped out of the room when no one was looking, but then his eyes caught red hair. The boy had somehow managed to blend in with the back wall, despite his shock of fiery hair and startling green bandana. It felt like he had dulled the colors or his presence in the room somehow, and the professor watched him watch other people. His green eye darted around the room, observing and taking in things, reminding Lupin a bit of the rant last night.

Then, as if he had felt Lupin's eyes on him, Lavi brightened up considerably, and a few of the students nearby gave starts, noticing him for the first time since he had entered the room. A mischievous glint blinked into existence in his single eye, one that Lupin recognized from associating with the Weasley twins, and he slunk around edges of the room. Although glad for the change from the almost depressing air he had had about him only moments ago, the werewolf decided to intervene before something happened.

He moved around behind the redhead, noticing the boy's awareness of him the entire way, even though the younger hadn't been facing him. A slight pause in his movement, a miniscule twitch of his ear, and other microscopic signals revealed to Lupin how Lavi's attention was focused solely on him.

"Hello," he greeted, and Lavi gave a significant jump and turn, too exaggerated to be real. An easy grin spread across his face, though on him now it looked practiced, rather than natural.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," he apologized, still wearing the smile. When they had first met, the expression hadn't been out-of-place, and Lupin had accepted it without a second thought. Now, though, he could see that the grin was there to hide the eye, crystal-clear and revealing only half of what he really felt. That half was still enough to have the man worry, however, so he steered the conversation as he would a normal student, to see how he would react.

"I see you have your wand with you," he began, and Lavi nodded, looking curious. "Have you studied any of the spells on the board... at your old school?" The last part was quickly added, for the benefit of the other, eavesdropping students in the vicinity. Immediately seeing what he meant, the redhead reached for the stick of wood which - Lupin noted with dry amusement - was sticking out of his back pocket.

A few relatively well performed spells later, and Lupin could tell that last evening's blunder had been only due to nerves. Each wave and stoke was confidently practiced, and it was clear that the only thing lacking was a bit more magical ability. If he had been wizard by blood or a Muggleborn, he would have been a top student without a doubt, but magic was only affiliated with the Innocence substance to a certain level. By now, Lavi had covered up any of his previous lack of cheer, though Lupin still couldn't tell if it was real or faked. He didn't know this student well enough for that, didn't know if that spasm in his fingers meant that he was lying or something else entirely, if it was normal for his eye to unfocus briefly before returning to his teacher.

"You're doing well," he praised, because he was. "Can we work a little on the  _Riddukulus_  spell?" he suggested, because he wasn't. Wasn't being the boy they had all glimpsed last night, the one who wasn't covered up in smiles and masks. Wasn't really here, in this room, with him, because this red-haired 'transfer' standing in front of him was a front, a facade meant to keep others out while inviting them in.

A flinch from Lavi, then back again with the eager smile. "Of course," and he performed a perfect mock-spell, not to full potential because it wasn't aimed at a Boggart, but Lupin could judge the skill level nonetheless. And it was close to perfect. Nerves, he decided, nerves for sure.

"It looks like Allen's having trouble," Lavi pointed out, so reasonable-sounding that Lupin didn't think twice about his suggestion to check on the white-haired boy. Only when he had made it halfway across the room did he realize the clever distraction, and by then the redhead had utilised his nifty disappearing knack, blending in again with the students. It was much harder to locate him in the crush of students than it had been up at the front of the class, so he continued on his way to his original destination.

"Hello," he greeted again, unaware that it was the exact way he had with Lavi. Allen looked up and smiled, polite in the presence of a teacher. Polite but cold, and Lupin worried for the emotional health of these three students.

"How is he?" came the unexpected question. There was genuine worry in Allen's voice, but for a moment Lupin didn't understand. Seeing the confused look on the professor's face, the boy clarified, "Lavi, I mean."

Lupin frowned. Did all of these children have a dozen different sides to their personality? This concerned Allen was nothing like the frantic, panicking student earlier, nor the polite, distant exorcist moments ago. He took a few moments to reply, and the sentence itself wasn't much of an answer to Allen's question. "His spells are coming along fine, if that's what you mean." Of course, it wasn't what Allen had meant, but Lupin had to be certain.

Allen shook his head, white hair fluttering around his ears. "I meant, how is he doing?" Realizing that this was just as vague as the previous question, he added, "He's been kind of... out of it recently." He bit his lip, wanting information but not willing to reveal more about his friend's condition.

"He has been, as you say, out of it," the Defense teacher agreed. "Has he always been like that?"

Now it was Allen's turn to be confused. "Been like what?"

"He's... How do I put it? One moment, he's bouncy and cheerful and looks like someone you'd want to hide your valuables from, and the next he closes off completely." At this, Allen frowned and glanced in a direction that Lupin supposed Lavi must be, though the professor himself still couldn't see him. A few moments of contemplative silence followed, Allen chewing on his lip and often glancing around him nervously, eyes flicking around the crowd, and Lupin watching him, wondering what to do next.

"So, can I quickly assess your spellcasting?" he asked, as it had been the reason he had headed over in the first place, and he had to break the silence somehow. Allen readily agreed, looking relieved at the distraction from what Lupin assumed were very depressing thoughts. The white-haired teen did relatively well on the basic incantations, but they weren't as practiced as Lavi's, along with having the disadvantages of connecting with magic only through Innocence.

"Is that okay?" Allen asked, his wand jerking a little when he attempted the  _Lumos Duo_  again. Lupin nodded, and the boy looked pleased. "That's unfortunately all I can do... Why don't you check on Ba- I mean, Kanda, over there? He looks a bit lost." Lupin was rewarded with yet another side of Allen when the boy gestured to the dark-haired transfer, holding back a laugh. The older exorcist did look 'a bit lost', and was currently glaring the life out of anyone who tried to help. The werewolf-teacher, having finished with anything he could do for Allen, had no choice but to head over.

To tell the truth, Lupin was a little curious about Kanda. Even if the first two were this multi-faceted, surely the ever-angry swordsman had only this irritation to show? Even if he did have, somehow, a kinder side, Lupin was certain he wouldn't see it in his lifetime.

* * *

"How are you coming along?" The question appeared to startle the Japanese transfer, presumably because he hadn't expected anyone to actually approach him. He whipped around, shoulders tense and glower already in place, but appeared to relax marginally when he saw who it was. The dark-haired student adopted an almost-polite air around him, the kind that people usually took on near, say, a police officer, and Lupin realized, upon looking back, that the exorcist did seem a bit more polite around teachers and other older, more authoritative figures.

"Fine," came the monosyllabic response. Even if he was more respectful, he certainly wasn't any more communicative.

"Do you have your wand with you?" A nod. "Can you show me a few of the spells on the board?" the teacher asked, attempting to keep the pathetic excuse for a conversation going.

Kanda frowned and pulled out his wand. Muttering something that Lupin couldn't quite catch - due to the noise around them and Kanda's reluctance - he waved the stick. It twitched a little in his hand, causing the teen to almost drop it, and then released a yellow-ish green cloud with a  _poof_.

"We, uh, might need to work on that," Lupin suggested, watching as the smoke dissipated, hoping it wasn't dangerous. Kanda grunted, looking to the side, clearly unenthusiastic. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then closed it again, looking slightly uncertain.

"What is it?" Lupin prompted, hoping to at least get a longer response out of the boy.

"Nothing," was the reply, but the Defense professor caught a glance toward a fixed point in the crowd, and immediately guessed what the problem might be.

"Is this about Lavi?" A grimace, then a quick, sharp, nod. Lupin waited, drawing out the silence and forcing the younger to continue.

"We almost couldn't wake him up this morning." A flicker of fear, voice almost cracking at the end of the sentence, but the rest of the line was steady and emotionless and his eyes quickly turned guarded again. Lupin frowned.

"Is that why you were late?"

A slight shake of his head, but no indication of any more explanation. Lupin - in a sudden burst of childish immaturity - figured that the swordsman must have used up his number of non-insulting words for the day.

"Alright then, make sure to work on your spells," even though Lupin knew he wouldn't, and "I'll look into it for you," referring to the difficulty in waking Lavi up.

Moving away from the now disgruntled-looking exorcist, the werewolf-professor opted to try and find Lavi. Thinking back to the last time he'd seen the boy, Lupin realized that maybe he should have been watching him a bit more closely. He would completely regret that he didn't.

* * *

Though Lupin never really witnessed Lavi setting anything off, he still blamed the energetic redhead for the exploding marshmallows. Only Lavi would have managed to persuade - or get away with pilfering from - the Weasley twins. The spontaneously combusting candy had been strategically placed around the room, ensuring chain reactions when one was set off. The first string of explosives resulted in the complete disruption of the already-unfocused class.

"Hey! What was that?"

"Ah! It's in my hair, it's in my hair, it's in my hair...!"

"Where the heck-?"

Lavi was still impossible to locate. Lupin, frowning, made his way through screeching teenagers (some of them covered in gooey marshmallow remains), trying to stop the pandemonium before it escalated any further. Another squeal and popping sound, followed by a squelch, alerted the Defense professor of Lavi's position. At least, for a moment. By the time the werewolf made it through the sticky arms and jabbing wands, the red-haired menace was nowhere in sight.

It was after the third set of explosions that everything began speeding downhill. The latest blowing-up had been, unfortunately, near the Kanda-clearing in the crowd.

_Kablooey_

_Shing!_

"Get  _back_  here!" Kanda was angry about his hair. Lupin could finally see Lavi, as everyone parted to let them by and to avoid being skewered, but he glanced at the situation and decided to leave it.

Another unfortunate fact was that, when a scary Japanese possibly-murderer swordsman gets glops of marshmallow in his hair, classrooms full of restless eighth-years tended to make a lot of noise. Lots of noise attracts a certain poltergeist.

Peeves tipped over-slash-unlocked the Grindylows' and the Hinkypunks' containers.

Lupin sighed and started counting down to the next vacation.

* * *

Allen surveyed the mess that used to be the Defense classroom. Water and exploded marshmallow bits - he had to give the twins creativity points for that one - covered everything from head to toe. One of the girls was still shrieking a little, trying to get a Grindylow's claws out of her hair. The Hinkypunks were mostly disposed of, the rest of the class showing surprising efficiency in the remembering and utilizing of the spells on the board (though a few of the boys were also shrieking). At least now Professor Lupin could assess them?

"Eh," Lavi started, spooking Allen. "Could you keep an eye out for Yuu-chan? I think he's still out for my blood, but I managed to lose him when the Grindylow tackled him." The redhead tossed Allen a grin, reaching out and pulling a clump of sticky candy out of his hair. "You might want to clean up a bit," he said, though the other boy's own red hair was much worse off than Allen's own. "The white looks good on you, though!" Allen made a mock-scary face, and Lavi, still laughing, walked off. Presumably to hide in a closet for the next week, if he was aiming to stay alive.

With the way he carried on with the pranks, though- Allen might disagree.

Allen was glad, though, that his friend seemed almost recovered. Maybe the chase- just like old times, Allen thought with a grin- had helped him keep his mind off things. The parting grin seemed almost real, if not a bit more like "Lavi" than Lavi.

He didn't appreciate that they'd had to sacrifice tons of marshmallows (and a Defense classroom, but that wasn't important) to make Lavi cheer up. Allen could have eaten that!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16


	18. Apologies, Conversation, and Confrontation

**Apologies, Conversation, and Confrontation**

Lavi watched with a hint of nostalgia as Allen bickered with Kanda. It seemed like they had spent too long here, if even the other two exorcists' daily arguing became something to be missed. They were currently walking down to lunch, having been dismissed after a tired scolding from Lupin. The poor man had asked Lavi to  _please_  not do it again, and, since there was no concrete evidence, he wouldn't be punished. Lavi had responded with a Black Allen-like smirk.

"It's an improvement from the red feathers, BaKanda," Allen pointed out, trying to cheer the irate swordsman up. The reference to the last time Kanda had been a victim to one of the Weasley twins' "products" didn't help.

"Shut it," Kanda snarled, still tugging at the gooey white bits in his hair. To tell the truth, Lavi thought Allen was right. The white complimented the Japanese exorcist's black hair more than the feathers had. He slipped on his mask and said so out loud, and Allen relaxed visibly, giving Lavi the chance to drop back and follow without worried glances shot over Allen's shoulder every few minutes.

"Aww, poor BaKanda can't come up with a proper comeback," Allen mock-cooed, continuing the banter.

Lavi tuned out the rest of the conversation. He would join in later, if it escalated to the level of 'potentially dangerous violence', to keep up his persona and prevent Allen from worrying again. For now, though, he let his mask slip off entirely, not caring if passing students noticed. There was enough gossip surrounding them as it was, a little more wouldn't do much more harm. And, really, Lavi was tired.

Keeping up his smile and chatter was starting to exhaust him, even though it shouldn't. He almost wished that the professor  _had_  given him detention, or something similar, just so that he could take a break from social interactions for a bit, drop his persona completely for a couple hours. He needed to thank Allen later, for distracting Kanda. Lavi just wasn't in the mood for dealing with an angry swordsman, because that would mean being extra careful with his mask. Kanda was more perceptive, sometimes, than Allen.

Whatever deity that had decided to make this mission absolutely miserable for Lavi wasn't about to give him a break now. Harry and Ron were up ahead, and, a few seconds later, Lavi spotted Hermione following a little way behind.

"...oh, hello!" Harry called to them, interrupting his conversation with Ron. Lavi had caught something about Quidditch, and the redhead wasn't sure if it was just a subject change now that they were near the exorcists, or if they actually hadn't been talking about last night - unlike all the other students, in the hallway and the classroom. Either way, Lavi was glad for the brief respite from the topic.

"Hi," Allen answered for the group, polite smile forming automatically. "How have you been?"

"Good, thanks," Harry responded, eyeing Kanda a bit warily. A slight pause followed, no one knowing what to say next.

A few tense moments of silence followed, causing the other students to have to push around the six, who had stopped in the middle of the hallway. It was hard to tell which group was more uncomfortable with the situation. Before all of this, they had actually started to warm up to each other, especially Ron and Allen. Now, though, Ron was the quickest to suspect, and Allen was the easiest to hurt. Everyone was afraid of Kanda, but this time it was genuine fear, not the "Don't anger him, he has a quick temper" attitude the Finders back at the Black Order had taken on.

Ron blurted out a question about the gooey white substance in their hair, and Allen, all too glad for a chance to continue the conversation and perhaps dispel the awkwardness hanging around them, immediately launched into a long and graphically detailed explanation. The chatter continued, and they moved to one side of the hall and out of the way of disgruntled students.

Lavi was personally worried about the circulating rumours. A bit of paranoia convinced him that all the whispers he was hearing were concerning his own behavior last evening. If he had been paying more attention (or had been acting as a proper Bookman's apprentice should have) he would have noticed how the glances were aimed at Kanda, or realized how he hadn't heard the actual contents of the half-caught gossiping. He was too busy keeping up the smile that hurt him, and he could tell how it hurt his 'comrades' too, whenever they looked hard enough to be able to tell.

He wanted to apologize. For hurting them, for collapsing, for making them worry, for the fake smiles and the 'I'm okay's that he never meant. He wanted to apologize for lying to them. If he paid more attention and covered his slip-ups better, would they hurt less? If, maybe, he had told them from the start about how he wasn't allowed to feel, but was growing a heart anyways - would they understand?

But the 'if's could go on forever. If he hadn't been such a failure as a Bookman and gotten attached in the first place... He wanted to apologize so badly.

Lavi blinked and shook himself mentally. Here he was, slipping up again. Why couldn't he think about things and keep up his persona at the same time, like he used to be able to? Mustering up a bit more cheer than necessary, he waited for a chance to rejoin the conversation. Allen, having milked everything possible out of the previous topic, had switched to another relatively harmless subject.

"Where haven't we been yet? We need to get to our next class." He turned to Kanda and Lavi, waiting for one of them to decide. Kanda scowled at Lavi for a few moments - during which Lavi scrabbled frantically to make his mask as authentic as possible - and then looked back to Allen.

"Take a free period," he commanded, turning in the direction of the Great Hall. "I need to get this disgusting stuff out of my hair." Allen scrambled to follow, and Lavi realized that Kanda might have been trying to give him some time to recover. He knew that the Japanese exorcist was perceptive, but thoughtful certainly wasn't an adjective he would use to describe Kanda. He decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and took this chance to escape.

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna head to the library, alright?" he called, waving a hand at their backs. Allen glanced back and gave him a worried smile, but looked unsurprised.

* * *

Hermione frowned when the exorcists split up. She hadn't had a chance to properly discuss anything with Ron or Harry, but she was sure that their plan remained the same: following the exorcists and making sure they didn't get into too much trouble was still of importance, probably even more so now. Ron had already started trotting after Allen and Kanda, so she opted to follow and leave Lavi to Harry - Kanda was her main worry at this point.

They were having trouble finding bathrooms, and by the time Hermione caught up with the other three, Kanda was looking scary again. Ron nudged Hermione, clearly suggesting that she do something to placate the angry transfer, fast, and so she pulled out her wand and cast a quick  _Scourgify_  at the two exorcists.

Allen's stomach suddenly decided to imitate an angry bear, startling everyone in the vicinity. Ron recovered and laughed, offering to show him a secret passage into the kitchen. Hermione's disapproving look had no effect, as usual, and so they set off to tickle the pear. Kanda, having nowhere else to go, followed reluctantly.

* * *

Lavi had already set off at a brisk pace by the time Harry was tasked with following him. There were only a few places he would be going, though: his dorm, the Great Hall, or the library. He wasn't in the right direction to be going to his rooms, and Harry knew from experience that it was never pleasant to be in a large room full of people when the centre of attention was you. So, the library it was, since it was at least quiet.

The Boy-Who-Lived found the redhead he was looking for at the farthest table from the entrance, making it very difficult to be casual and make it seem like he had wandered into the library and very close to Lavi by coincidence. He decided that he needed to take the direct approach, and tried his best to be quiet and inconspicuous on his way across the library. Unfortunately for him, everyone in the room already had their eyes on Lavi (and also trying to be subtle) and the battle against Voldemort wasn't long ago enough for them to forget the Chosen One.

By the time he slid into the seat next to Lavi, even Madame Pince was watching. He sighed internally and abandoned any and all hopes for this to be a quiet affair. He chanced a glance at Lavi. The red-haired exorcist, having noticed Harry's presence, now had a forced-looking grin on, and had attempted to seem brighter. All that he managed to accomplish was to give off a slightly tired, world-weary air.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked without thinking, because it seemed like the only thing to say to this boy who seemed too old for eighteen. His eye reminded Harry a bit of Professor Lupin's eyes when the werewolf had revealed his identity in the Shrieking Shack and was hoping desperately to be accepted. Maybe even a bit of his own eyes when he was still at the Dursleys', unaware that he could have a life other than sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs.

"People seem to be asking me that a lot recently," Lavi sighed. Harry blinked.

"Sorry, I didn't mean-" he began, but Lavi cut him off with a wave, gesturing that no harm had been done. Harry thought he had caught a slight grimace, but, half a second later, Lavi was grinning again. The redhead turned back to the books on the table, as if hoping Harry had only come by to say hi and would leave soon. The green-eyed wizard would have left, if only because of the almost-stifling atmosphere now that they weren't talking, but he had been tasked by Hermione to find out what Lavi was up to, and an angry Hermione wasn't fun. She had mentioned numerous suspicions about Lavi, and though Harry thought that she was being a bit paranoid, he agreed that the exorcists had to be watched. So he forced himself to turn his attention to Lavi, muster a friendly look, and try his best to strike up conversation again.

"So, uh, what are you reading?" he attempted, hoping that Lavi was feeling talkative. The exorcist was making Harry feel strange, as if they had met somewhere before, long ago.

"Hm?" Lavi looked up from his reading, looking surprised that Harry was still there. The emotion didn't quite feel genuine, for some reason, and Harry raised his guard. "Oh, I was just reading up about some of your wars. You've had two Wizarding Wars so far, right? Both caused by Voldemort, it looks like." Harry flinched at the memory of what had ended the first.

Trying for casual, natural conversation, Harry sighed, "It seemed like that second one would never end."

"Wars never do." Lavi's expression darkened for a moment, but then just as quickly brightened again. Harry suppressed a shiver, remembering the last time this side of the redhead had come out, when they had been talking about trust. Then he realized that he had seen it again, much more recently: on the day with the Boggart.

"What makes you say that?" This time, it was purely out of curiosity, and Harry wondered when this conversation had crossed the line between 'forced' and 'just a bit awkward'.

"Humans are too selfish to stop fighting for an extended period of time," was the other boy's answer, but what surprised Harry the most was that the exorcist had said it with an incredibly cheerful expression. This time Harry did shudder, wondering why Lavi was talking about 'humans' as if he wasn't one himself.

When he had refocused enough to look back at Lavi, Harry was surprised to see him without his characteristic grin. The red-haired exorcist was frowning, brow furrowed, and one hand had started to come up to rub at his temple.

"You're sure you're alright?" Harry asked again, worry winning against manners. Lavi nodded, but the smile was still absent, and, no matter how fake it had seemed, the red-haired teen looked wrong without it. Something seemed to be distracting him from the facade he usually put up around others. Distracting him enough, Harry realized, to share unfiltered, honest opinions.

If Harry took advantage of this situation to get as much truth out of Lavi as possible, he would feel horrible. But Hermione had told him not to trust this one, this 'transfer student' with too many secrets. Still struggling to decide, he went for a more innocent question.

"You've seemed really tired recently," he began cautiously, watching for any sign that Lavi was closing up again. The redhead looked up at him, the slow movement seeming to take more energy than it should. He was tired, all right, but Harry was sure it wasn't physical.

"It's..." Lavi started, and then paused to frown again. "It's like life is throwing blunt, heavy objects at me and I haven't got enough left in me to throw back, you get what I'm trying to say?" It was a pathetic attempt to put the fake personality back on, the casual speech mixing in with his actual answer. He looked incredibly confused. No, Harry did not get what he was trying to say, and it was making the teenage wizard feel despicable.

"Er... Sure. Why don't you go lie down somewhere? That headache looks like it's really bothering you," Harry suggested, trying to make up for it. He decided that he had enough information for Hermione. Suddenly, Lavi perked up, his expression increasing in brightness and decreasing in sincerity.

"No, I'm fine, no headache," he insisted, standing up. All eyes in the library shot straight to him (as though they weren't watching out of the corners of their eyes before, anyway). "Say, I think we should be getting back to the others. There's only 201 seconds left until the next class starts." By the end of the sentence, his falsely cheerful demeanor had come back almost completely, though the number confused Harry. Glancing at the clock, he saw that there were about three minutes and twenty seconds left. Two hundred seconds exactly, and Lavi hadn't looked at the clock since Harry had sat down.

Feeling like he had gained more questions than answers, he followed Lavi out of the library.

* * *

Hermione watched Allen's eyes light up as he took in the food. Kanda scoffed, and Ron left them to their own devices. Allen started trying to persuade the house-elves to give him food, which they were all too happy to do. Kanda moved to a corner of the kitchen and appeared to be trying to meditate. After checking that all of the house-elves were too preoccupied with Allen's requests to pay much attention to anything else, Hermione pulled Ron aside.

"We need to talk about the exorcists."

"Mh? What's there to talk about?" Ron asked, looking at her over the sandwich he had grabbed.

"What's there to talk about? What's there to talk about? Kanda murdered a student, tried to kill another, and did you see Allen's Boggart? Any of their Boggarts?" she whispered furiously. "They seemed to know the creepy voice personally. Lavi's Boggart ended up being himself, unless he has an evil twin somewhere, and- and-"

"Okay, I get it, bloody calm down." Ron raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I was just saying that we could try to get to know them better before judging. I mean, we all thought Sirius was a murderer, didn't we?"

"Sirius wouldn't have hesitated before saving his friend from a Boggart. Sirius didn't murder a child in front of a few hundred other children and all the teachers. You saw that Boggart accusing Lavi of abandoning his comrades. More than once, too. He didn't deny it, either, and this is all adding up to a conclusion I'm not too fond of," Hermione hissed, a bit on edge.

"I know, you've explained all this to us earlier," Ron answered, quietly so as to not catch the attention of the exorcists in the room. "But what do you expect me and Harry to do about it? What are you going to do about it?"

"They mentioned the title 'Bookman', I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before," Hermione muttered, more to herself now than to Ron. "I can search it up in the library..."

Ron sighed. "I am kind of worried about their- what did you call it? Right, their mental stability."

"Mentally unstable?" came a voice from behind them, making them both jump. "Aren't we all?" they turned to face a smiling Allen, with Kanda scowling not far behind.

"Sorry to intrude on your conversation. I finished eating and wandered over just in time to catch that last interesting tidbit. So, uh- if you don't mind me asking, of course- who were you talking about?" He seemed genuinely apologetic, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uh, no one," Ron said quickly, and Hermione wanted to smack him. There was hardly a less suspicious answer than that. They stood there for a while in uncomfortable silence.

"So why do you call Allen a beansprout?" Ron really wasn't the best at breaking silences, but at least it had been broken. Kanda replied gruffly with something to the effect of "Because he is one," which started Allen on another round of insult-trading.

* * *

Kanda felt that both Lavi and Allen were spectacular liars. Even now, on the way to the Great Hall - hoping to run into Harry or Lavi along the way - the younger exorcist was chattering away with Ron cheerfully, showing no signs of having heard the entire conversation in the kitchen. Hermione seemed a tad suspicious at first, but ended up buying into the polite smile and friendly demeanor.

Noticing Kanda's (usual) detachment from the group's conversation, Allen purposely pulled the older exorcist into it. "Kanda, what do you think? Should we go to the weekend Hogsmeade trip? Ron says they have a really good sweet shop there!" Allen's eyes appeared to be sparkling.

" _Baka_. Why the heck are you asking me?" the Japanese exorcist growled. Allen stuck his tongue out at him. He responded with a remark about how easy it would be to kidnap this  _child_  with candy. Allen insulted his hair. Mugen made a guest appearance, and Hermione observed (out loud) that the sword was very sharp and that maybe Kanda should put it away now.

They ended up deciding to go, mainly because of Allen's 'persuasive skills' and Kanda's wanting to "get the damned mission over with" (Allen's reasoning was that both the Earl and Road liked sweets, so...?) The only problem with the plan was finding and getting the remaining member of their party to agree. They were trying to locate either Harry or Lavi, and hopefully both, but it proved to be rather difficult.

In the end, they opted to just head to the Great Hall and hope that the others had gone there too. Stepping into the large room, Kanda noticed that fewer pairs of eyes turned to stare at them than usual, and, upon closer inspection, this was since most people seemed to be (attempted subtly) watching Lavi and Harry make small talk with a group of Hufflepuffs. Kanda also noticed that one of them was the akuma that they had met earlier - it seemed that Lavi was watching the boy, though an untrained eye had no hopes of catching it - and was, for the first time, glad that Allen was with them. It would mean he could destroy the akuma faster, and then maybe they could go home.

As they approached, Allen suddenly grimaced and put a palm to his left temple, slowing down. Lavi immediately noticed and bounced closer, and Kanda couldn't help noticing that the redhead was in his slightly-infuriating-but-also-mildly-comforting persona again, all smiles and rainbows and empty words. The Hufflepuff-akuma boy (Kanda couldn't remember his name - Earl or Eddie or something) stepped a little closer, feigning concern -

And Allen's eye exploded.

The eye glowed an eerie blood red, gear-like monocle springing out. Anyone within sight recoiled, and Allen himself looked surprised. Kanda drew Mugen and shot towards his target without hesitation, and for a moment it seemed as if Kanda would be responsible for the 'murder' of another 'student'.

Everything happened at once. Teachers, previously frozen from shock, sprang back into action, whipping out wands and shooting everything from  _Expelliarmus_ to  _Aresto Momentum_  at Kanda. Allen also moved towards Ernie - though with some difficulty, as his eye still seemed to be causing him pain - but whether he was stopping or helping Kanda was uncertain. Lavi, though he was always fastest to realize what was happening and what would happen as a result, was slowest to react - in this situation, it was because he wasn't sure to pull out his hammer or his wand

Kanda dodged most of the spells, but even he stood less of a chance against panicked teachers firing dangerous spells, and went down when he was hit by a few Disarming Charms and a misfired jinx. By this time numerous students had gathered around the scuffle, precisely the opposite of what their teachers had instructed them to do, and succeeded magnificently in making everything a lot more confusing. Allen had fallen over a bit after tripping on a younger student, and at some point the Ernie-akuma had slipped off and destroyed his gloves - likely acting on orders from Road.

Mugen was flying dangerously across the room, and ended up being perilously caught by Lavi (well used to this by now that he didn't question it). It vanished somewhere with a teacher, presumably confiscated, and Lavi forced his way into the heart of the now-larger knot of students, exorcists, and akuma. At one point food made its way into everyone's eyes, and by the time teachers started breaking them up, Ernie had escaped.

The last thing Kanda saw before being buried by over-excited, confused students was the akuma whispering something into Lavi's ear as he slipped by, and the junior Bookman crumpling onto the ground.

* * *

Allen had been chased out of both the Great Hall and the hospital wing, and a recovered Kanda refused to share the dorm space, so he settled with playing poker with a few Slytherins for an audience of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and even some Ravenclaws. He'd made sure to teach them thoroughly beforehand, with the help of a handful of Muggleborns, just to make it fair. Either way, he would have won.

The only problem was that he was missing his gloves, and he had looked everywhere for replacements. Finding none, he had to deal with the curious and mildly disgusted looks thrown his way. No one dared ask what had happened, though a couple of brave souls asked to touch it.

After a third round of poker - the Slytherins kept demanding rematches and declaring him a cheat, and Allen really couldn't allow them to think they were right - he excused himself from the circle and retired to the dorms (anticipating, of course, a fight with the still-moody Kanda).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: About the aliases I used for Lavi earlier on: me, being unimaginative and lazy, took the first thing I saw in common with the names "Lavi" and "Deak" (both names have four letters in them) and I ended up with very plain-sounding names... If anyone has any suggestions for a better method of going about this, I would be very very grateful.
> 
> Beta-read by espeon16


	19. A Day Out and Disaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16

**A Day Out and Disaster**

"A message from Mistress Road..."

" _You're human yourself, you know that, right?"_

Even as an impartial, unbiased Bookman, Lavi was finding it too easy to dislike Road. Thinking back to the time on the Ark, Lavi realized that she must have caught the phrase while looking through his past personas. It sounded much too familiar, and had the same disconcerting quality - of not-quite-remembering - that featured in his other recent dreams.

Even while he tried to focus and dissect the sentence, emotions stirred and vied for his attention. Quiet anger, deep-seated bitterness, amused concern, soft certainty, mild surprise, fond acceptance. It was difficult to tell which ones had belonged to him at the time - to 'Dave' - or to the original voice behind the question. Its identity was lost in the tangle of memory that composed that section of his mind, but other memories surfaced to compensate.

" _You're human too, right? Am I wrong?"*_ That was Miranda, back on the ship to Edo. Lavi had slipped then, and he wondered now if 'Dave' had too, ranting about humans or war to a non-Bookman. Of course he would have been a defective personality, if he had _felt_  and been discarded in an abnormal fashion.

Still struggling to grasp the strands of recognition that were intent on evading him, Lavi felt himself stirring.

"-and I'm saying, Minerva, you can't allow these... transfer students to do as they please, even if they are 'our only defense against an unknown threat'!" an agitated voice protested.

"I understand, Poppy, but what else am I to do?"

" _Stop_ them. Let them know they can't attack our students without a proper explanation, or a warning, at least!"

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Footsteps faded out of the room as Lavi moved to sit up.

"Ah, you're awake." Lavi blinked up at a concerned-looking nurse hovering over him. "Do you feel alright? Nothing broken? Remember everything okay?"

It occurred to Lavi that the answer to all of these would be negative. No, he felt horrible - the headache had returned; he supposed  _Lavi_  was broken; and remembering was most of the problem.

"I'm fine," he answered, mustering up the most convincing smile he could. Either the matron was busy and had other patients to attend to, or he had regained some of his acting abilities, because she only huffed and told him to stay in bed, before bustling off elsewhere.

Not wanting to be caught in an escape attempt - he didn't need to find out if this strict-yet-gentle nurse had the same attitude towards stubborn patients as the Head Nurse back at Headquarters – Lavi waited until she was back to talk her into letting him leave. He succeeded; assuring her once more that he was "perfectly fine".

(Lavi was seldom 'fine'.)

* * *

Kanda glowered at the gathering of teachers and other staff in front of him. They weren't listening to Allen's speech at all, and were insisting that the exorcists were mistaken and that they shouldn't attack innocent students. Even the fact that the younger exorcist's eye had activated was protested; they pointed out Allen's admission that his eye was being affected by the castle's protective charms. The main point was that if Ernie was an akuma, he would have attacked by now. Even the exorcists had no argument against that; they had no idea what the akuma was waiting for.

After a while, unable to contribute anything more to the situation, Allen had left and gone to check on Lavi, leaving Kanda to deal with the numerous displeased professors. Kanda would have left if he could, but Allen had told him that he had to stay and talk it out in case they jeopardize their chances for going on the Hogsmeade trip. As much as Kanda hated listening to the 'moyashi', the cursed boy had a point. So Kanda pretended to listen to the rambling teacher - this job would be better for Lavi, what with his expert pretending skills - and grunted tacit answers when they were expected. Allen probably would have been able to get them off his back much more quickly, with a few well-chosen words and strategically placed smiles, but Kanda had gotten himself into the mess, and it was his responsibility to get out of it.

Not that the samurai was completely at fault here. Both Allen and Lavi had a part in this mess, and he would make sure to have them pay for it later. For now, though, Kanda was (not very) content to stand and (try to) listen.

"... you'll be let off with a warning this time, but if this happens again..." the caretaker - Fulch or Finch or something, Kanda could never remember these strange wizard names - paused for (attempted) dramatic effect. "Do you understand?"

"Che," was Kanda's response. It seemed like they were finished, and 'che' would serve fine as a 'yes, I understand', so the dark-haired exorcist turned and left the room. He needed some time to meditate.

* * *

Unfortunately for Kanda, he wouldn't be able to find a chance to meditate for quite a while, considering the events that followed. As the Japanese swordsman passed by the hospital wing - he had  _not_  gone to visit Lavi, it was simply en route to their dorm - he was stopped by the Headmistress. She looked slightly agitated, though not enough to disrupt her usual calm.

"I trust you've had that meeting with the staff?" she inquired, looking at him thoughtfully, though her mind seemed to be elsewhere. He nodded, and realized that she was one of the first people since the incident - apart from Lavi and Allen - who seemed to look at him without automatically thinking back to either the 'killing' or the Boggarts.

"Good. I've explained as much of the situation as I could to the students, though whether or not they believe it is up to them. It's at least decreased the aggression; I think you've noticed that their reaction to a, uh, murder of a fellow student is milder than it would have been otherwise." Kanda had noticed, but he had ignored it; he hadn't expected the students to take any action (apart from gossiping) against him in the first place. Upon further contemplation, he supposed it was possible that the students attack him or riot against the exorcists' presence or something; a very stupid move on their part, but entirely possible.

"I've also taken the necessary measures to keep the Ministry of Magic out of this for as long as possible," she continued. "It would be for the best if you don't cause any more trouble, though, especially on the trip to Hogsmeade today. If you're going," she paused, and continued at Kanda's affirmative noise, "it would prove to be much more difficult to cover up any mischief committed away from Hogwarts." Kanda nodded, trying to keep that in mind.

The witch gave him an understanding look, as if trying to assure him that she was on their side, and vanished after muttering something that sounded like "If only Dumbledore were still here..."

Kanda resumed his journey back to his room, only to be interrupted yet again, this time by a redheaded rabbit bouncing down the hallway from the opposite direction, accompanied by a white-haired beansprout.

"Yuu-chan! All ready for the trip to the village this afternoon?"

"Che." A vein twitched in his temple. "Don't call me that."

* * *

The walk to Hogsmeade was uneventful, though the exorcists were accompanied (followed? Watched over?) by the usual three eighth-years. There were a surprising amount of ordinary topics for them to talk about, and the conversation was sustained until they reached "the only all-wizarding settlement in Britain" (according to Hermione, who had almost seemed proud when she said it, as if she was the one who had founded it).

A group vote - consisting of only Hermione and Allen, as everyone else seemed otherwise preoccupied/appeared not to care - decided that Honeydukes be left for last, as they predicted they would dally the most there. The other shops would be explored as they went along, though Allen's stomach seemed to protest against waiting so long for food.

The strange little group didn't completely stop at any of the shops, instead preferring to wander along half-listening to Hermione's guided tour ("The Owl Post has its owls on colour-coded shelves according to how long each owl takes to deliver") and splitting off into smaller groups briefly if someone seemed particularly interested in a shop. The latter occurred quite often, due to appetite-driven Allen pausing every time he spotted/smelled/ _sensed_  food. Once, Hermione went with Lavi into a quill shop that had caught the redhead's eye, and they came back with a bit less money and plenty more writing utensils.

Kanda almost destroyed a talking mirror that had chosen to comment on his appearance (it had shouted at him from across the street to cut his hair, else be forever mistaken as a girl), but Harry managed to talk him out of it ("Uh, wait, Kanda! Isn't it considered bad luck to break mirrors – Never mind, just put away the sword, alright?") Allen wasn't much help, loudly agreeing with the mirror whenever possible.

The small, ragged band of students also attracted much attention - due to both their appearances and their reputation; although more so Harry's, for the latter - but had managed to avoid any major scuffles until they passed by Dervish and Banges. Lavi had wandered a bit ahead of the group, and there were few other people nearby, so there was little doubt as to which shopper had set off the display of Sneakoscopes. The arrangement of tops set out in front of the shop whistled and spun and lit up, attracting the attention of everyone quite a ways up and down the street, and so by the time a startled Lavi had backed away and the shopkeeper had come out, there was something of a crowd gathered.

The shopkeeper muttered an apology, saying that the Sneakoscopes must be broken (shooting a parting dirty look at Lavi, for forcing him to make up an excuse that tarnished the reputation of his shop's goods). It was rare and extremely unlikely, though, that so many Sneakoscopes would choose to randomly set off at the exact same time, and so many people glanced warily at the perplexed red-haired exorcist before drifting back to their original tasks.

After a while, they came across a storefront that looked very familiar from a distance. Approaching it, they realized that Fred and George must have finally acted upon their wish to purchase the property that Zonko's Joke Shop owned in Hogsmeade and open up another branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Entering, they were met with a pleasant (or not so much, if you were Kanda) surprise: the surprisingly successful chain's original owners just 'happened' to be managing the branch for the day. (They later explained that "We'd heard you were visiting Hogsmeade today-" "-and so we left the Diagon Alley shop to Verity-" "-so we could greet you personally!")

Fred then proceeded to let loose Pygmy Puffs on Kanda - Allen brightly remarked that they suited him - and George, in order to save his twin from certain death, 'accidentally' used a package of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Several Dungbombs were set off in the impenetrable darkness, and displays of Weather in a Bottle were knocked over, causing mini-storms all over. Some of the shop's (luckily) milder pyrotechnics were disturbed as well, causing general mayhem that, for once, wasn't Lavi's doing. Once the darkness wore off, the eighth-years were given a bit a fright. Some Headless Hats had fallen onto Allen's, Ron's, and Fred's heads, and, coupled with the general mess of the place, it proved to be quite a sight. By the time they'd cleaned up and exited the shop, all six were considerably worse for wear.

Upon entering Honeydukes, Allen's eyes lit up and his mood perked up instantly. He then began his attempt to clean the store out, but Lavi (somehow) managed to convince him to leave at least a little - the exorcists were hurting for money, as well. Unfortunately (for Kanda, again), this meant that our favourite bottomless hole turned to his preferred source of entertainment: bothering his least favourite dark-haired samurai. Eventually, Lavi was forced into action. Purchasing a chocolate frog and chucking it across the room, he called out, "Oi, Allen, go get it!" This was followed by an indignant protest: "Hey! I'm not a dog!", but the younger exorcist went after it anyway, leaving Kanda alone and, as a result, leaving many people non-mutilated from Mugen-related 'accidents'.

Harry found that it was good to be back in the sweet shop. He was glad that it hadn't changed much; he hadn't had the chance to visit in a while, what with the war and Voldemort taking action. He could see that Ron and Hermione felt the same; the atmosphere was nostalgic and strangely relaxing, even with the exorcists making themselves 'at home'. Allen was in vacuum-cleaner mode, and Lavi was trying to protect the exorcists' wallets. Kanda had, yet again, resorted back to his default response of glaring at anyone who dared look his way.

Despite recent events, Harry thought that, just maybe, the exorcists were okay. They weren't so different at all from the green-eyed boy's own companions, and Ron was getting along famously with Allen. There were still holes in their stories, and complete trust was a level to be achieved much later on, but for now The Boy Who Lived let down his guard a little. He didn't want to have to worry about things like this even after the war, and, thinking harder, there wasn't too much to worry about anyway. The exorcists would do their job, get to the bottom of and put an end to the mysterious disappearances, and then they would leave and life would go back to normal. Simple. Maybe, for once, Harry could give up on the whys and hows and try to relax and enjoy his last year at Hogwarts.

The 'transfers' were still complicated characters, but Harry couldn't help chuckling at Allen's surprise when Lavi fed him a levitating sherbet ball.

Then screams sounded from outside, Allen's eye activated, and all three exorcists were instantly alert, transforming from teenagers on an outing to soldiers hardened by war.


	20. Might Be Difficult to 'Cover Up'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16

**Might Be Difficult to 'Cover Up'**

The atmosphere was tense. Everyone was frozen in place, attention fixed on the sounds outside, but no one was moving to investigate. Not yet, anyway. The air was filled with crackling anticipation, almost daring someone, anyone, to make a move. More screams erupted, joined now by the  _crack_  of gunshots, tearing apart the near-silence inside the sweet shop.

Allen focused on the souls he could see, trying to ignore the sudden, self-conscious need to hide his activated eye. One, two, five, ten, too many akuma to count. And not all of them were Level Ones or Twos. This could get ugly, fast, especially if the exorcists didn't intervene  _now_. He glanced over at Lavi and Kanda, only to find them already watching him, as if waiting for a report on the enemies they should expect - or, perhaps, waiting for orders? Kanda normally wouldn't follow them, and Lavi usually wouldn't care, but recently, even before this particular mission, their hierarchy was becoming clearer; instead of only turning to Allen during a battle for akuma numbers, they had slowly started to look to him for strategic decisions, too.

Another gunshot, paired with another wailing shriek, reminded Allen of the situation at hand. It wasn't the time to ponder over what his companions thought of him as (their fellow exorcist, powerful past the Critical Point; a good friend, there when you need him; the Destroyer of Time, to be listened to and obeyed; a Noah, to be feared?); they needed to get out there as soon as possible. He made eye contact with the other two exorcists one final time before plunging forward, through the door, and out into the open.

* * *

Lavi immediately put his Bookman training to use, absorbing details as fast as his eye would allow. Level Ones and Twos (at an approximate ratio of two to one) crowded the street, clustering around the defenseless students and shoppers, while a few Level Threes - and was that a Four? - were barely visible through the clutter of people and akuma. The situation wasn't positive, no matter how you looked at it - at least, if you were looking from the exorcists' point of view - and, this time, there were too many civilians to protect. Lavi could tell that there had been at least a few deaths already; there was no way for them to survive the akuma bullets, and the wizards' spells were doing little to no damage against the akuma.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Allen spring forward, his Sword of Exorcism firmly gripped in his hand. Flashes of light indicated Kanda's presence, unsurprisingly already in the midst of the fray. Once the exorcists had been noticed, the akuma immediately abandoned their struggling prey to move, as an immense group, towards them. Lavi cursed and activated his Ozuchi Kozuchi, hoping that they would be able to hold off the advancing dark cloud long enough for the remaining people to escape.

The odds of surviving a normal mission weren't high in the first place, but here they were severely outnumbered and overpowered. There were too many akuma for three exorcists to handle alone, even if two of them were close to General-level. Lavi had to make a choice; he knew that he was supposed to take the less dangerous route whenever there was one - in this case, he could put himself in charge of making sure all the civilians made it to a safe distance - and he was sure neither Allen nor Kanda would blame him, but, if he left... The same familiar guilt settled in his stomach, reminding him of 'Dave' and  _consequences_.

Lavi raised his weapon and joined the battle, feeling himself slip deeper into the emotions he wasn't supposed to have.

* * *

Kanda's healing ability couldn't quite keep up with the rate at which he was receiving wounds, since he was directly in the middle of a large crowd of lower-level akuma, sparring with two Level Threes at the same time, but he couldn't quite bring himself to care. Mugen was as content as a sword could get, slashing rhythmically at the enemy. Block. Parry. Counter. Fire off a round of Hell's Insects to ward off the surrounding Level Ones. Slash, dodge, and jab. One of the Threes exploded with a satisfying whomp, and the other, greatly weakened, was caught up in one of Lavi's attacks.

Kanda heard a gunshot from behind him, and he whipped around. He had just enough time - less than half a second - to sidestep it, but the path of the bullet would continue on directly to the annoying red-headed rabbit. He hesitated a half-second too long, and then he was thrown back into a wall by the force of the bullet. Something cracked, and - after recovering from the poison - he was forced to pause for a few moments to allow it to mend, but only enough so that he was able to get up again.

Of course Lavi would have picked up on that moment of doubt before the bullet struck, and a grateful look was sent in Kanda's direction as soon as the opportunity arose. The dark-haired exorcist pretended not to notice and settled back into his routine. Intercept, duck, slice. Send a quick nod of acknowledgement that Lavi wouldn't be able to see.

* * *

Hermione had been on the other side of the room from the rest of the group when the screams had started. She watched as the exorcists charged out, obeying some unspoken signal, and the silent tension in the room shifted to an agitated near-panic. Over the din, the young witch heard someone cry out what sounded like "Death Eaters!", and so she pushed her way to the front of the store. Sure enough, looking out Hermione could see dark, hooded figures dispersed throughout the ordinary people on the street, attempting to blend in. From what she could see, it was working. People were too concerned with the akuma to alert others of the presence of another threat, fearing that any noise would attract the monsters' attention.

The exorcists were either too preoccupied with the battle, didn't recognize the Death Eaters, or didn't register them as a danger worth taking their attention off the akuma for. Hermione frowned, as underestimating the Death Eaters was often a fatal mistake, but then someone screamed and turned to ash, scattering in the wind, and Hermione decided maybe the exorcists had enough on their hands as it was. It didn't allow them to dismiss the Death Eaters' attacks, though, as she could spot quite a few of them terrorising groups of huddled shoppers.

The issue that caught and held her attention, though, was the fact that the students and shoppers were paralyzed - from either panic or fear - and scattered in little clumps around the street-turned-battlefield. Not a single person was in a position to be safe from the onslaught of poisonous bullets and deadly curses being constantly tossed around. With a quick glance to the side, she saw Harry, with Ron's help, gathering any who were brave - or foolish - enough to venture out and attack the Death Eaters. Or, at least, hold them off long enough for the exorcists to finish up and to evacuate all who weren't able to defend themselves.

There were a few problems with the plan. Not very many volunteered to go against the Death Eaters; the exorcists, instead of 'finishing up', looked like they were going to be finished off; and no one was handling the evacuation. The other problems were out of her hands, but Hermione thought that maybe, if she were lucky, she could manage to round everyone up and bring them somewhere safe (Hogwarts seemed to be her best bet - she could also solicit help from the teaching staff, if they hadn't already heard the racket).

Taking a deep breath, she headed out, falling in step behind Harry's group.

* * *

The scene had grown considerably noisier, even though nothing had changed in the battle against the akuma - meaning that the exorcists were still alive, albeit desperate, and the mass of akuma hadn't yet shown signs of diminishing - and Lavi decided to risk looking away from the fight. He spun Ozuchi Kozuchi parallel to the ground, knocking akuma away to clear a temporary circle, and quickly located the centre of the commotion. He recognized Harry, and that head of ginger was likely Ron, though Hermione didn't seem to be among the crowd. Said crowd consisted of many of the students and daytime shoppers that were inside Honeydukes, but there were also a fair amount of hooded figures.

Upon further scrutinization, Lavi could make out two defined sides, shooting off spells and the like towards each other. He had noticed a few darkly-dressed individuals, with obvious malicious intent, dispersed throughout the cowering civilians, and realized now that they must be the Death Eaters that were often talked-about and so very feared among the magic folk. Pieces had almost started to come together - his mind was working out the possibilities that would explain the Death Eaters' presence at the same time as the akuma attack - when Lavi was interrupted (and rather rudely, too) by a whistling bullet less than a hair's width from his eye.

It had startled him from his blind side, and, heart pounding, Lavi returned his attention to the more urgent problem. Akuma first, puzzling later. A Level One wandered a bit too close, and the red-haired exorcist slammed it to the ground, resulting in a satisfying crunch. He'd spent most of the fight either dodging bullets or fending off Ones. Occasionally, a Two would cross paths with him, but, for the rest of the time, he couldn't manage to find space between the relentless attacks to contribute much to the overall effect. Rather than hacking away at the never-diminishing cloud of akuma, he felt like he was only desperately trying to survive. At least Allen and Kanda could fight properly, without the constant fear of death from even only being  _nicked_  by a bullet.

He was a Bookman, so he couldn't get attached to this position - translating to the fact that he could never achieve any level of power with his Innocence. He had a heart, so he chose not to run away from this battle, not to abandon his 'comrades' - his friends. The price of being balanced precariously between these two worlds was clearer now than ever: he would likely die here. This wasn't a novel; the main characters didn't always win, and wrong choices piled up. Besides, Lavi doubted that he would be a main character in anyone's story - always on the sidelines, watching, indifferent, so how would he ever play a direct part in anything?

He felt so very useless.

And then the failure of a Bookman (of an exorcist, of a  _friend_ ) blacked out again.

* * *

Allen was distracted, which was not a good state to be in when fighting for your life against machine-soul demons. A Level Three sneered at him, and several others were taunting him, but he wasn't paying attention. Another akuma bullet found its home in a man's arm, and, moments after, there was nothing left of him. The air was choking the white-haired boy a little, and he tried not to wonder how much of the dust in the air had been people, not more than an hour before.

Inattention was always punished on the battlefield, he should have remembered that. A blade ripped into his human arm, but the offender was soon impaled on Allen's sword, and dissolved into the wind. He risked a second to look down at the wound, and cursed at the amount of blood seeping into the ground. He wasn't Kanda, and he already had quite a few smaller cuts and scratches.

He forced his mind back to concentrating on the enemy, remembering what he was here for. Surely it was to save their souls from the suffering only he could see? Still, a portion of his thoughts remained stubbornly fixated upon what he couldn't do anything about. The  _living_  people needed help - they weren't moving, nobody was helping them get away to somewhere safer (anywhere would be safer right now, really), they had to get away from this danger zone before they all became akuma, and _oh god, not another one_. The civilians were directly caught in the crossfire, and they were dropping like flies - or if he was thinking like Kanda, like Finders.

Thinking like Kanda never got him anywhere. Nor did acting like Lavi and spacing out mid-combat, it seemed, as a bullet ripped its way across his thigh. The people - someone would take care of the people, right? His job was to keep the akuma at bay, so that they wouldn't all be overwhelmed and dead and  _ashes_. A Level Four barrelled towards him – they  _all_  seemed to target mostly him, probably because he was the Destroyer of Time, Mistress Road's favourite, the one the Earl is always keeping an eye on, the best exorcist to attack. He was Allen Walker, but at the same time he was so much more.

So Allen kept fighting to move (walk) forwards.

* * *

Hermione realized that it was incredibly difficult to move around during a full-out battle between akuma and exorcists. The exchange of spells from Harry's group and the Death Eaters wasn't helping either. The explosions and destruction reminded her a little of the final battle at Hogwarts, but this time there were no bodies to trip over. She tried to ignore the cracking bullets and snapping hexes, tried not to look at the struggling exorcists (because, to tell the truth, all the blood was unnerving her) and especially not Kanda, who was soaked in  _red_  and still going.

She had a clear goal. Make it to the closest group of frightened, cowering street-goers, show them the safest route to Hogwarts, find her way to the next groups and continue until she had (hopefully) sent off any and all civilians who weren't participating in the battle, then she would leave the village herself, and make sure they were all headed in the right direction. She would have preferred to keep them with her as she collected survivors, but it would have been too dangerous to move about the street with a large group of people. Too conspicuous, so she would have to make do and work with what she had.

Nothing was ever that simple in Hermione's experience, but having a semi-solid plan calmed her a bit. Now she was almost there, to that clump of five or so shoppers pressed up against a storefront. None of the Death Eaters or, thankfully, the mass of akuma, had noticed her yet. Things were going relatively well.

A bullet slammed into the glass of the store's display windows, a large shard piercing through a young woman's neck - and then there were four. The contents of Hermione's stomach left her. She struggled the rest of the way to the now-bloody cluster of people, and shakily pointed them in the direction of the castle. Thankfully, they obeyed, and she prayed that the rest were the same, not frozen and immobilized by fear but simply not knowing where to run.

Perfect timing, now, for her to spot a certain redhead flopping over for a nap in front of a dozen or so akuma. Either he was trying to get killed, or he had succumbed to one of his 'attacks', because there were no visibly serious wounds from where Hermione was standing. Unfortunately, where she was standing also happened to be the closest to where the exorcist was lying.

New "simple" plan: get over to Lavi without being attacked by the surrounding akuma, before said akuma ate him - or whatever akuma did to defenseless exorcists - and make it back to somewhere safe, somehow dragging the sack-of-potatoes limp body without scraping it up too badly.

Maybe she had something in her pocket to circumvent this near-impossible situation. As she thought so, Hermione stuck her hand into her coat pocket, where she knew the twins had left some goodies back when Kanda had gone missing in Diagon Alley. Her fingers curled around something smooth and she pulled it out to see a Decoy Detonator in her hand. Squatting down, she set it off and let it scamper away. Within moments, it had let loose a cacophony of noise over by the owl post office, and the insidious cloud of akuma soon drifted away to investigate. Hermione made a mental note to thank the twins - "if she made it out here alive" was left unsaid, because it always had been, especially during last year; it didn't need to be pointed out, because it always applied.

Of course, a few of the akuma stayed behind, clearly deciding that a helpless exorcist was a better catch than whatever the noise would turn out to be, and Hermione still had to get around them before something really bad happened to Lavi. She wrinkled her nose in thought, but before she could come up with a feasible course of action, the akuma had begun to attack Lavi.

She ran. She wasn't panicked or reckless enough to simply dash headfirst into the flock of akuma, though, and so she quickly cast a  _Confringo_  into a nearby lamppost, distracting the remaining akuma for a few precious moments. By the time she reached the prone figure in their midst, however, they had already turned their attention back to the exorcist - and the extra morsel that had magically appeared without them noticing.

Hermione wasn't sure what effect spells had on akuma (or if there would be any effect at all), as there hadn't been any recorded encounter between magic-users and the machine-creatures, but it was a desperate situation and there was nothing else she could think of to do. A hurried  _Protego_  and a few Freezing Charms were tossed at the akuma, but, oh, there wasn't anywhere to run without coming within wand-lengths of an akuma, and-

With a jolt, she remembered that she was a witch (and fondly recalled that scene in their first year that Ron sometimes teased her about: "there's no wood!") and a witch with a License to Apparate, at that. Making sure that she was latched on to Lavi's arm as securely as possible, she executed the best clumsy half-turn she could given the lack of space, desperately prayed that it would work, and promptly vanished from view.

A sharp  _crack_ ing noise and an uncomfortable squishing later, the young witch and her passenger were tucked out of sight in a nearby alleyway. She didn't want to risk Apparating somewhere too far away, in case Lavi needed help from the other exorcists, and Hogwarts could have been under attack as well. As soon as she collected her senses, she set to work giving Lavi a once-over and trying to wake him up.

After an unsuccessful  _Ennervate_ , Hermione resorted to more Muggle-like methods, including a solid whack on his head and a bit of shouting. He only stirred after she had aimed several  _Aguamenti_  at his face, leaving him with water dripping off his chin and drenched hair hanging in his eyes.

He blinked and shook his head like a wet dog, then tensed and pressed himself against the wall where Hermione had propped him. For a brief moment, he still seemed disoriented from sleep (or unconsciousness), his eye showing a hint of fear and his too-happy grin absent. He didn't relax, even as he appeared to realize where he was - and who was with him - and the first thing out of his mouth was a panicked "Get away!"

Hermione was a little confused (and indignant, as she'd only just saved his life).

"What?"

Lavi blinked again and seemed to collect himself, shooting off rapid questions. "How long was I out? Where'd you come from?  _Was I shot_?" The last question was directed at her with some degree of urgency. "If I was poisoned, and if you made contact with the wound-" He cut himself off and took a few deep breaths. Hermione sat back and managed to gather that he was worried about akuma bullets, and whether or not she had come into contact with the poison.

By the time she looked back at him, however, he had put on a lopsided smile - that reminded her a little of Sirius, for some reason - and was his usual (cheery) self.

"Sorry, got a bit worked up there," he apologized. He dropped his smile for a moment to frown and bring a hand up to his ear, but then almost instantly had on a happy expression again. The redhead shifted aforementioned hand, almost sitting on it, and started chattering away with most of his usual brightness.

"Let me see your hand," she interrupted, insistence in her tone. He handed it over, reluctant. She looked from the bloodied hand to his ear, leaning over to inspect it. " _Merlin_ , did I splinch your ear?  _No_ , it's not okay, here, at least let me- That's a lot of blood."

"Don't worry, head wounds bleed more-"

"A chunk of your  _ear_  is  _missing_ , you're not getting back to the battle without letting me do something about it, you're bleeding all over the place- stop moving!" And thus, the atmosphere tense with suspicion and distrust dissolved into a slightly less serious situation, and Hermione later noted that she might have pulled a Mrs. Weasley on the poor exorcist.

She ended up roughly mending a few other gashes on his arms and one on his back - though, really, it was pointless; they would likely reopen during battle anyway - before letting him return to the carnage.

(Maybe she kept him for a while only to put off her own task for a few more minutes - that image of the glass in the poor girl's neck never quite left her.)

* * *

Lavi was in a bit of pain. Maybe it was the returning headache ("hello, headache, haven't seen you for days, so very  _glad_  to have you back"), or maybe it was the ever-increasing injuries. He couldn't really tell anymore, and he didn't have the energy, or the time to spare, to try and figure it out. He was tiring; he knew they all were – this kind of seemingly endless, seemingly pointless battle could go right up until all the exorcists dropped dead from exhaustion alone. There were too many akuma, and Lavi, for one, knew how much of his being alive could only be attributed to luck.

He hoped, at least, that Harry and his makeshift army would have better results against their Death Eaters; he hadn't managed to look over in a while, but, in the habit of recording battles (as a Bookman must), he had snatched a glimpse right before he re-joined the fray, as soon as he was released by Hermione. They seemed to be doing fine, though it was difficult to tell, with all the coloured lights shooting around. He had seen, however, a worrying amount of blood on Ron.

The red-haired Bookman-exorcist was currently locked in combat with a Level Three humanoid wielding a scythe. Both hammer and long-handled blade worked fine at long-range, and so exorcist and akuma were trapped in a sort of circling, deadly dance. Lavi was at a disadvantage, pinned to a spot between a large group of midday shoppers and the slashing attacks of the Three. He could feel at least three pairs of Hogwarts eyes glued to him, and though his life – and Bookman duty – came first, not jeopardizing their mission as an exorcist ran a close second. Allowing the shoppers to be slaughtered (or, likely, decapitated) certainly wouldn't earn the exorcists any trust points.

Frustration and annoyance built up – the occasional headache-stabbing shrieks coming from directly behind him didn't help – and Lavi took a chance. A risk; a gamble. If his luck had allowed him to stay alive for this long, then he might as well go for it. If he died – well, then, he would be dead, and not much else to say about it. Maybe it would even solve a few problems along the way.

He ducked into the akuma's guard, taking a few non-fatal slices as part of the half-suicidal plan, and was almost close enough to administer a Direct Fire Stamp when one of the pesky Ones hanging around the side shot at him.

His hammer wasn't in the right position to block, trapped as it was between a scythe handle and a nearby Two, and there was no room to dodge – unless throwing himself straight onto a blade counted as dodging. His right hand was free, though, and his wand (right, that thing, he had a wand now, didn't he?) was easy enough to access. So, without much thinking on Lavi's part, a  _Protego_  was sloppily executed, and the bullet was diverted – unfortunately, diverted into a nearby student, but it was an accident, and what could anyone do about that?

Exploding student or no, he had almost no time before the glistening-blood-red- _sharp_  blade came in for another tear-cut-rip, and likely a fatal one this time. The Fire Stamp was aimed perfectly, and the Three exploded moments before skewering Lavi (or cutting him in half). Through the smoke and dust and ashes from the remains of the akuma, though, was an unwelcome sight.

 _No_. No, no, no, no. He didn't need this, right now.  _They_  didn't need this, on top of everything else. It seemed like overkill.

The Noah were here.

* * *

Allen hoped that he had heard wrong. He had spent a good part of the last half-hour limping, bleeding, and  _fighting_ , to do something about the ever-increasing body count. Maybe he had offended someone important in a past life or something. That was probably it. It would explain plenty, including this current sticky situation.

Because Allen did  _not_ just hear Lavi call out "Noah!" in a voice tinged with slight panic.

But then Road had tackled him again, out of nowhere, (because Allen certainly didn't hear her coming, over the din of battle and death and his own thoughts of denial and karma and such things), and  _ouch_  they'd collapsed onto his wounded leg.

"Allen!" she shouted in his ear (yes, he knew his own name, thank you) and the poor white-haired boy was just glad that she hadn't kissed him this time. Not wanting to give her a chance to make him have to rectify that last thought, Allen pushed the Noah off and stood up - with some difficulty, as his leg was bleeding even more now.

"Hello, Road, how  _nice_  to see you again," he said, and watched her face light up, before she noticed the sarcasm and her face fell again. She arranged her lips into a pout, and attempted to latch onto his arm.

"Allen," she scolded as he shook her off and backed away a bit, "if you insist on being mean, then we'll have to try and kill you again, and there are much better ways to spend our time together." She said the last part in a way that made Allen think he probably wouldn't enjoy the 'better ways' any more than a death match. He looked around to avoid meeting her too-eager gaze, and only then did he notice that all activity around them had come to a stand-still.

Akuma were paused in mid-attack, awaiting commands. Students were watching with a mixture of curiosity and fear - they'd recognized Road's voice from the night when the Boggart had 'attacked'. Kanda was visible among the crowds of akuma, watching Road - and possibly Allen, as well - with unmasked disgust, while 'enjoying' a small break from the fighting. Lavi had made good on his knack for vanishing mysteriously, and Allen couldn't spot his bright red hair among the masses of people.

By then Allen's brain had properly processed Road's death threat, and he had spotted Tyki, too, leaning against a wall and very casually smoking.

"Aren't you always trying to kill us?" Allen asked absently, making sure that his back wasn't facing either of the Noah - but also carefully using the word 'us', so Road wouldn't take it as anything personal.

"Not this time. Right now, we're just out for a walk." She paused here, and her face brightened again. "But if you want to, we can play!" She was practically bouncing up and down at the idea, and then promptly lunged at Allen.

* * *

A split second after Lavi had called out to warn Allen and Kanda, he felt a burning pain rip across his lower leg, a few centimeters down from his knee. He looked up, eye wild and distressed, to catch the last fading strands of white light from the misfired spell that had hit him. Some Bookman survival instinct kicked in, and he limped over to the shadowy protection of a nearby storefront, leaning on the cool brick wall for support. He was vaguely aware of Allen's interaction with Road, but the same animalistic instinct had him check the severity of the wound first.

Fighting the urge to look away, he frowned down at the crimson that had already seeped down to the ground. He wasn't sure how long he would be able to last with it bleeding so profusely, but there wasn't much he could do at the moment. Lavi considered trying to find Hermione, in case she had any spells or was carrying around anything that could be used as a makeshift bandage, but he wasn't thinking straight and-

"Oi, Eyepatch-kun!"

Lavi gave a start at the voice and immediately began scrambling away from it, dragging himself along the wall. Some part of him – he sincerely hoped it wasn't Junior, he had enough to deal with right now – jeered and berated him for running away. He was supposed to  _fight_  the Noah, but he wasn't listening to that part of him right at the moment. Right now, it was fight-or-flight, and the blood loss and headache and stress and panic and fear were overwhelming him.

"Wait up, will you? I'm not going to eat you." Tyki's voice drifted over the din a little while later, not sounding the least bit tired from shoving through crowds of civilians and akuma. Lavi, meanwhile, was panting – from both fatigue and fear – and very lightheaded. His hair was in his eye, but he didn't dare take his hand off of Ozuchi Kozuchi. His grip was so tight his knuckles had gone white, and his hand was a bit numb, but it was there more for comfort than anything else – he was in no condition to fight, both physically and mentally. His other hand was scrabbling at the wall, trying to find purchase, and – Lavi thought, though he wasn't sure – bleeding a little.

Lavi was close to crawling by the time the Noah caught up with him. If Tyki had so intended, Lavi would have been dead as soon as the other man had spotted him, but it was clear – from both the amusement in Tyki's eyes and the steady lope he used to 'chase' after his prey – that it was more a game of cat-and-mouse than an actual chase.

"You're not looking so good, Eyepatch-kun," Tyki said, voice filling with mock concern. He was directly in front of the wavering, unsteady redhead – when had he gotten there? - and put a hand on the exorcist's shoulder. Lavi didn't have the energy to bother shaking it off. "Maybe you should sit down, you're awfully pale." A tiny shove, without much force behind it, and Lavi was suddenly on his knees.

The apprentice Bookman's heart was fluttering like a 'goddamn rabbit', and Lavi was certain Tyki could tell. Especially when he tugged his head up by his hair, looked him in the eye, and closed the other hand over Lavi's heart.

"Scared, are we?"

* * *

Kanda thought 'surrounded by akuma' was an understatement. Not only were there akuma everywhere around them – including his blind spots, which he did  _not_  appreciate – but the masses stretched out through the entire street. Thankfully, they weren't moving at the moment, but he could feel their attention riveted to him. If their mistress and master were 'playing' with the other two exorcists, then they couldn't bother them, right?

That left Kanda to fend off almost the entire black cloud,  _and_  he was likely saddled with the task of protecting the civilians. The moyashi would kill him if the shoppers and students all ended up dead. As it was now, there was already a decent number of corpses. He had glimpsed the girl-witch rounding a few up and sending them off earlier, but, at the rate she was working at, she'd be lucky if she managed to save more than a dozen.

Abruptly, on some invisible signal, all the akuma unfroze. Kanda tensed as screams filled the air once more, and the circle of akuma closest to him closed in, launching themselves at him. He allowed his reflexes and a lifetime of training to take over, and tried to settle back into an almost-relaxing rhythm. It was difficult, though, because there were so many things wrong with this scene. Too much screaming; if they were going to die, couldn't they at least do it quietly? He couldn't concentrate. There was no obnoxious helping from either of the other exorcists, as there usually was when they were attacked on missions. There was also a strange twinge in his muscles – this he knew intimately. It was fatigue, but different from the trained-all-day satisfying feeling he was used to. This had the added tinge of adrenaline and maybe panic.

Things came to him slowly, one by one. It wasn't just the dying screaming; he would have noticed if there had been this much noise during other battles – it was the not-yet-killed. Too many people for even the akuma to get rid of all at once, meaning too many left alive and terrified. The other exorcists had to be either busy with the Noah or incapacitated or- he decided not to continue that line of thought. This tiredness was much more desperate because it was trying to match the situation – very desperate. He would die if this went on too much longer. The lotus wouldn't be able to keep up, soon – there was an irritating tear in his side that hadn't closed up for a while yet.

They would all die if this didn't end soon.

Kanda frowned and sliced the next akuma in two rather more vigorously than usual. That wasn't acceptable. He wasn't going to die, and, even if he was, he wouldn't be moping around about it. He would do what he'd done his entire life (what you were  _made_  to do, some tiny sarcastic voice snarked from the back of his head, and he told it to shut up) and simply cut down the akuma. He needn't worry about anything else.

He had actually been doing rather well – playing a good offense-is-defense strategy – until the Two came up from behind him. He had been preoccupied with a Three and another Two (and the screaming,  _screaming_  and the wrongness of the situation), and so reacted too late – he was already on his back, a good distance from where he had been fighting a second ago. He also had a few new injuries; there was a broken left arm, a possible concussion – walls were not good for his head – and a rather large cut on his back where the Two had hit him.

At least him flying through the air had finally finished off the two akuma he'd been fighting and placed him in a good position – he could keep his back to a wall and avoid another surprise attack.

The only downside of his changed position – aside from the injuries – was that it drew the akuma's attention to the area where he was currently standing. It wouldn't have been a problem, but there was a group of students nearby who had huddled, mainly unnoticed, until now. They were whimpering with terror; though it seemed to be more in reaction to the amount of blood on the teenage swordsman than anything else.

" _Move_ ," he roared at them, but they only shrank back into themselves and withered under his glare. "Do you  _want_  to die?" One of them gathered the courage to mutely shake his head. Kanda growled.

Why did it have to fall on him to babysit the whiny brats? He didn't need the extra responsibility of having to protect them.

(Kanda didn't realize that perhaps a year ago he wouldn't have considered protecting them as absolutely mandatory.)

* * *

Harry aimed a few quick Disarming Charms at nearby Death Eaters, and, without looking to see if they found their targets, switched his attention to Ron. They had been fighting back-to-back, shooting off hexes and curses, but a particularly nasty spell had forced them to dive out of the way – and into the disorienting crowd. Harry hadn't managed to spot Ron until now, and the other teenager looked worryingly pale.

It wasn't a simple task to shove and  _Expelliarmus_  his way through the crowd to where Ron was, but Harry managed (with some difficulty). Now that the green-eyed boy was closer, he could see that Ron, aside from turning pale-green, was also covered in a generous amount of blood.

"Bloody hell, mate, what happened to you?"

"Think… I think someone got hold of Snape's  _Sectumsempra_ , or made their own version or something." Ron wavered a bit on his feet.

"You don't look so good."

"You think?" A laugh turned into a coughing fit, and then they were interrupted by a  _Confringo_  too close by for comfort.

"We'd best move." Harry herded Ron over to the sidelines, making sure he wasn't going to pass out along the way. "Maybe you ought to rest here for a bit."

Ron shook his head furiously (then obviously regretted it, as he paled even further and put his head in his hands). "I've got to go and fight," he moaned.

"No, you don't.  _Episky_."

"Harry, really, it's only a scratch- watch out!"

The Boy Who Lived was hit from behind with a flash of red light, and barrelled into Ron. His wand was jerked out of his hand, bending a few of his reluctant fingers in painful directions. Ron was soon similarly disarmed – though he wouldn't have been able to do much, in his current state – and the two boys found themselves facing three rather large Death Eaters without any means of defense.

Ron blinked. "Well, we're dead, aren't we?" Harry made a small noise of agreement. All five of them jumped when a Decoy Detonator abruptly came into view (and within hearing distance), very successfully stunning the present company.

"Well. Okay, then." Harry was the first to recover, and used the much-appreciated distraction to dive towards his wand. He wouldn't have made it – one of the Death Eaters noticed what he was attempting, but the chaos around them had both released and disturbed some owls – Harry hadn't realized he was so close to the Post Office. A Great Horned swooped over, rather confused and annoyed, and ended up in the Death Eater's face. Neither of them appreciated the collision, affording Harry enough time to scoop up the wands and head back over to Ron.

"You know, I have that weird feeling that Hermione just saved our lives again."

* * *

Tyki was laughing. Seeing as how the Noah had not relinquished his grip on Lavi's heart, the redhead wasn't as reassured by the other man's amusement as he would have liked. The Noah's grin, sharp around the edges, reminded Lavi of a shark's, and the apprentice Bookman wasn't thinking straight right now, anyway. He closed his eye and took deep, shaky breaths, not caring that Tyki could tell that Lavi was blatantly trying to calm down.

"I thought you were only on a walk?" he managed, slightly proud of the fact that his voice didn't waver as much as he'd expected.

"I thought out little Bookman wasn't supposed to have a heart?"

"You got me there," Lavi admitted shakily, and coughed up a bit of a laugh – a choking, bitter one that made his head hurt, but a laugh nonetheless. He could  _feel_  the Noah relaxing – especially as his grip loosened along with his expression.

"Still got some spark left in you, eh? Not completely off your rocker yet?"

"Were you hoping I was?" Lavi was still very, very aware of the fact that there remained a hand around his heart. Also, he was being lifted off the ground by his hair, and rendered completely defenseless.

"Ah, now that you mention it… A loopy Bookman certainly would have been fun to play with."

Lavi made a noncommittal noise of agreement, focused on keeping his thoughts coherent. He was trapped in a very bad position, and he needed to get out of it, soon. There were quite a few options at this point, but none of them offered more than a fifty-percent chance that Lavi would escape alive.

He still had to try – something was driving him to get out,  _move_ , though he wasn't sure whether it was exorcist's duty or Bookman's survival instinct. Besides, Tyki wasn't really expecting much resistance from this crumpled mess of a boy, especially since Lavi had chosen to run instead of fight when the Noah had approached.

He needed Tyki's hand out of his chest, though, before he could do anything.

He didn't want to risk allowing the Noah to use his ability and let the attack pass through the offending arm, so Lavi decided to risk an attempt to activate his Innocence. Carefully keeping up the tense, playful banter, he swept one hand lazily back towards the hammer's holster.

Lavi could see the exact moment when the Noah noticed his movement. His sarcastic remark trailed off and was left hanging in the air; his eyes glinted gold and dangerous; and his hand renewed its grip on the exorcist's heart.

There was no choice but to attempt to go along with the rest of the plan – which didn't seem like much of anything, in retrospect – and hope that he wasn't about to get himself killed. He vaguely remembered thinking that death would maybe solve a few problems, and wondered why he was fighting so hard to live now.  _Did_  he want to die?

His distraction probably  _would_  have cost him his life, if it wasn't for the long strip of sharp, familiar metal that came very close to shearing Tyki's arm off.

Lavi recognized it instantly – how could he not know the blade that had come so close to slicing off his own head (and various other body parts) countless times in the past? The Noah recognized it too, apparently, and drew his hand back as quickly as possible – which made it impossible for him to take Lavi's heart along, for which the exorcist was  _very_  glad.

The one substance that Tyki couldn't "choose" not to touch was Innocence, and he had never been more thankful that Kanda knew this, too.

* * *

Allen jumped out of the way of an excessively sharp candle, bowling over several unfortunate shoppers.

"Sorry!" Then he was gone again, flinging himself at Road. They had been at this far too long – him dodging her attacks and putting some distance between them, and her inevitably closing in and preparing her candles again. It felt frustratingly like he was running away from the deceptively small Noah.

She clearly agreed that it was becoming tedious, and called out to him before he could move away again. "This is no  _fun_ , Allen! Why do you keep  _avoiding_  me?"

"Because I would prefer not to be killed at the moment?"

"Ah, but we  _said_  that we didn't have any serious business here." She pouted. "We're only here to play."

"Then could we play somewhere else? Away from all these people?" He thought it was worth a shot.

"If you insist on being boring, then it's up to me to mix things up a little," she continued, giving no indication that she had heard him. "Let's play doctor!" The wide-eyed student she pointed at – a boy in sixth year – was disembowelled in the blink of an eye.

Allen visibly tensed, his eyes widening. Road took notice and giggled. "Oopsy." She feigned disappointment, looking down at the corpse. "And it was going so well…" She grabbed a nearby woman by the hair.

Allen growled and charged, desperate to reach the pair before the candles could complete the action. Road turned her head and sent him a chilling grin that made her look like a doll gone horribly wrong. Even as the white-haired exorcist realized his mistake, the candles found their mark and he fell face-first to the dusty ground.

"I knew you would let your guard down to save the lady!" She clapped her hands, looking brilliantly happy. "Allen's such a gentleman!" She proceeded to eviscerate the woman anyway, making sure that the 'gentleman' had a clear view of the 'surgery'.

Allen, meanwhile, was turning slightly green from both the sight and the effort of keeping his own insides from escaping every time he inhaled. Five candles: one near his stomach, two in his left arm, one through his side, and one too close to his leg wound.

"Ah… Allen's done playing already?" She waved her hand and the candles ripped out. The exorcist let out a strangled yelp and curled in on himself. "That's too bad. I was hoping that you would last longer." He was tired… A nap sounded very nice right now – what was he thinking? He needed to get up… what was Road saying?

"…so I guess we'll have to wrap it up." She gave a dejected sigh. "Hey, you three," she waved vaguely at two Threes and a Two hovering nearby, "self-destruct."

She wandered off as Allen screamed, writhing in his pool of blood.

* * *

When Hermione had noticed Kanda's predicament and dropped by to relieve him of his charges, Kanda had almost  _smiled_  at her. Kanda rarely smiled, though, so he settled with a mumbled 'Thank you', a relived sigh, and turning back to the battle.

It was midway through a clash with a pair of Twos when Kanda noticed a certain redhead nearby. Aforementioned redhead was kneeling,  _on the ground_ , and the Noah he was supposed to be  _fighting_  had a  _hand_  in his  _chest_. Kanda's mind blanked out for a second.  _What_  did he think he was  _doing_? Lavi wasn't struggling, making no moves to even try to get out of the situation – one that he shouldn't have been in in the first place.

The dark-haired exorcist scowled and sent a volley of Hell's Insects at his current opponent – a Level Two – and started to make his way over. There was about five akuma's worth of space between them when Kanda noticed the sudden change. Tyki had been pleasantly chatting with his captive, and Lavi had been pleasantly answering. Abruptly, they both stiffened, and it was clear to anyone watching – Kanda suspected that quite a few people were, having nothing to do other than cower and scream – that Lavi was about to die.

(A messy, painful death? The latter, maybe, but Tyki didn't like getting his hands dirty.)

Kanda shot forwards, Mugen at the ready, though he didn't remember deciding to. He also didn't remember knowing that the best place to aim for would be Tyki's arm, if he was trying to keep Lavi out of imminent danger. It was for the best, though, as Allen would have said; if the teenaged swordsman stopped to think every time he moved in battle, then he would have been long dead.

The downside to not thinking before he attacked, in this situation, was that it gave Lavi the impression that Kanda had just arrived in shining armour to save him – you could see it in his eye. Kanda was most certainly  _not_.

"Yuu-chan! My hero!"

He was answered with a growl and a shut-up-or-I'll-regret-saving-you glare.

The 'touching' moment was interrupted by Tyki attempting to severely wound Kanda and a Level Three attempting to behead Lavi.

* * *

Hermione, having successfully saved Lavi's life, moved on. She sincerely hoped that the rest of her plan did  _not_  involve as many heart attacks as her recent rescue had. She was not so fortunate.

She made her way down the street, pointing as many people as she could reach in the direction of Hogwarts. As for the ones she couldn't reach- they ceased to exist a few moments after she passed, and so were not to be worried about. Forcing her mind off the grimmer aspects of her task, she looked around to check her bearings.

The witch was surprised to find herself standing in front of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and realized with a jolt that the twins were in Hogsmeade today. The events before the akuma attack seemed weeks away from the current situation. The problem remained that the two Weasleys were likely still in their shop, trapped by the surrounding akuma.

She hoped that they hadn't done anything stupid. She bit her lip, remembering the ease with which the bullets killed. This was a war, and both Harry and Ron were out there somewhere, fighting. If they so much as  _touched_  a bullet, they would- She shook herself and moved towards the shop's door.

The interior of the building was a complete mess. Hermione sighed, thinking back to the amount of time it had taken to clean up the first time around, and the noise alerted the two lurking figures behind the counter.

"Hermione! How very nice-"

"-to see you again. As you can see-"

"-we're in a bit of a pickle-"

"-care to help us out?"

Hermione sighed again and glanced around. The twins looked as if they were having a bit too much fun 'discouraging' the akuma from coming near the shop. There were Fanged Frisbees zipping around the entrance, both inside and outside, snapping at anything that came close- Hermione was glad that she hadn't run into one. Screaming Yo-Yos were hanging from various fixtures, bouncing up and down and screeching endlessly. Boxing telescopes were attached with Sticking Charms around the front of the shop, and every so often a twin would stick their head outside to launch a Dungbomb.

"We've also got Self-propelling Custard Pies set up around front-"

"-but we doubt they're doing much good."

"Alright, listen. It's getting to be really dangerous out there, so if you want to-" Hermione was cut off.

"It's fine," Fred waved a dismissive hand. "We can handle ourselves."

"We know it's dangerous, we have eyes, you know."

"Exactly. So you go on back out there-"

"-don't get yourself killed-"

"-and be a good hero and save some lives, alright?"

Hermione sighed. It was true, they were doing fine, but… She knew she was wasting time here if the twins didn't need help, but she would rather stay and make sure people she knew made it out safely than to help complete strangers. It was a selfish wish, but she wanted it nonetheless.

"Speaking of saving lives," she added on her way out, "thanks for the Decoy Detonator. Lavi would be dead if I hadn't had that."

"Well, tell him that he can pay us back by buying more products next time-"

"-and that we're glad he's alive."

Hermione thought she could hear a few Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-Bangs setting off behind her as she made her way over to the next group of students.

* * *

Lavi's luck seemed to be down lately. Once he had defeated the Level Three (the one that had been threatening his neck), he looked around and noticed that Kanda and Tyki were nowhere to be seen. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that this put him in the path of yet another Noah, and there was no one else nearby.

At least the bleeding from his leg had slowed.

"Bookman Junior!" Road looked delighted. "Yay! I was so sad that Allen can't play anymore, but you can play instead!"

"What do you mean, Allen can't play anymore?" Lavi tried to keep his voice even.

"We were playing 'doctor' and he got tired," she explained, not sounding very reassuring at all. "Oh, right! I was going to tell you something important!"

Lavi snapped to attention, recalling Ernie's message. Did Road see anything about his missing memories? "What is it?" (At this point, he had given up any attempts at staying calm and the question came out a bit snappy.)

Road tsked, waggling a finger at him. "So many questions. I'll tell you if you play with me?"

Lavi thought that it didn't seem as if he had a choice in the matter, seeing as he was already frantically dodging the candles – his wounds didn't appreciate the excess movement. "Okay, sure, what should we play?"

"I'm so glad you agreed!" Her smile turned a little to the eerie side. "Let's go, shall we?"

'Go'? Lavi's eye widened as he realized what Road was doing. Before he could do anything about it, though, he was sucked into her Dream dimension.

It was the familiar checkerboard landscape, but Lavi had a feeling that it wouldn't be the same battle. Road didn't like being bored, after all. Sure enough, the forgotten-remembered feeling settled on his shoulders like a blanket – though not nearly as comforting – and snippets of his dreams showed up around them.

"Have fun!" Road sank back down into the floor.

It was dizzying, being pulled into one memory after another and yet not being able to stop and actually observe any of them. There was one difference from his dreams; he was awake, and could put his Bookman memory to use.

_"Obliviate!" The wand pointed at him was attached to an arm which belonged to someone with red hair, just like-_

_"It's time to go." Bookman was looking back at him, but Dave was rooted to the ground, staring at the little cottage, and a familiar figure there-_

_The motorbike was shiny and powerful-looking and she would hate it-_

_Two children, too much alike to not be twins, older than Dave-_

_He's leaving, he's leaving, don't let him leave-_

Lavi gasped and blinked as he was pulled out of the Dream and deposited roughly onto the ground. Road was nearby, conversing – arguing? – with a pumpkin-headed umbrella that he recognised with a sickening jolt. When had Lero gotten here?

"But Road-tama! The Earl will be angry at you for wasting so many akuma-lero!"

"I know, I know! We're not to move yet, need more information, blah, blah, blah." Road looked both annoyed and frustrated, sweeping her gaze over the crowds of akuma. "Fine, I've got it, we'll retreat. TYKI!" She called out, moving away.

Right before she left, however, she turned back around to address Lavi (who was still sprawled rather ungracefully on the ground). "We'll play again soon. Next time, we can officially start the game of Kill-and-Seek!"

* * *

Kanda, even as he fought to keep Tyki at bay, was assaulted by numerous akuma. They didn't seem to understand that the opponents had been switched around. Too many small wounds popped up, not serious enough for the lotus to prioritize, but not minor enough to keep from bothering him.

Adding to his mounting frustration was the fact that the Noah kept coming in _too close_  for comfort, sticking hands in to brush against internal organs, calling in his butterfly-golems to nibble away at Kanda's ears.

"Stop it, will you?" the Japanese exorcist growled, clearly very, very annoyed with the situation. Tyki simply grinned and stepped back to avoid Mugen. Kanda gave him his best scowl-glare-growl in combination. Another Teez fluttered by Kanda's head, getting caught in his hair and irritating the swordsman even further.

"So," Tyki started, and Kanda sensed casual-battle-small-talk incoming. He glowered harder. "How's your Bookman doing? Not so well, last I saw of him."

"Che. Baka usagi's problems are none of my business." Kanda cut an obnoxious ear-nibbling butterfly in half with some degree of satisfaction.

"Rabbit, is he?" The Noah chuckled. "Alright, how about Cheating Boy A?" Kanda was confused.

"Allen Walker," the other man clarified, thrusting his hand out and just barely missing Kanda's stomach.

"Moyashi's none of my concern either."

"What  _do_  you care about, then?" It was a casual question, but Kanda had to frown and think (he couldn't stop to think, as Tyki seemed to be aiming for his brain this time). Not coming up with an acceptable answer, he chose to instead release his frustrations on the Noah.

"Okay, touchy subject. Uh-" he paused here to avoid a round of Hell's Insects. "So, the weather's nice lately, isn't it?"

Kanda actually stopped to look up at the sky. It was starting to become cloudy, and looked like it would rain soon. Tyki seemed to find this incredibly funny, and consequentially had to dodge multiple furious slashes from Mugen – Kanda wasn't sure why he was laughing, but it seemed to be directed at him, so he would pay.

"TYKI!" Road's voice interrupted their 'small talk' (which was admittedly running out of steam).

Both men jumped. Tyki gave Kanda an apologetic smile and a wave, adding a "We'll continue this next time, okay?" before heading off through Road's door.

* * *

A few minutes after Road had left him, Allen's candle-punctures stopped bleeding enough for him to stand up. Crown Clown was urging him to destroy akuma – go,  _go_ , save their souls – and he had to force himself to pause and catch his breath first.

Akuma were all around, and they didn't give him the luxury of waiting. There was even more dust in the air than before, and this time Allen had no doubts as to what had caused the increase. He sidestepped and took down multiple akuma with ease, though he did slip once on what seemed to be orange goo.

He wasn't used to fighting in the same space as witches and wizards. He doubted one really ever became used to the random misfired spells – he narrowly avoided being Transfigured into a turtle, once, and the unfortunate fate was left to a nearby piece of rubble (also blasted apart by some spell or other).

Allen had been in the middle of a clash with a Level Three when, abruptly, every single akuma turned and, as one, moved out of the village. There was a shocked silence, followed by exclamations of relief once everyone was sure that they were not returning anytime soon. Allen thought that it was rather anticlimactic, but Road  _had_  said that they were 'only out on a walk', and therefore unlikely to be taking things seriously.

The street was almost cleared out now, compared to the densely-packed akuma and people a while earlier. There were no bodies in this war, and so not much of a battlefield to clean up afterwards (plenty of destruction, though, and Allen winced when he remembered Kanda passing on Professor McGonagall's warning to not cause too much trouble).

There was a definite  _fwump_  as Lavi crumpled to the ground a little ways down the street. Allen hoped that it was only exhaustion and blood loss. It was likely, as the white-haired boy himself was teetering on the brink of unconsciousness himself, and even Kanda looked worn out and was subtly leaning on his sword.

He thought he could spot Hermione in the distance, accompanied by a troop of teachers. There was nothing more here for the exorcists to do, aside from the tedious re-explaining that Allen sensed in the near future, and so he closed his eyes and sank into the welcome darkness.

* * *

Hermione noticed the Noah, connecting the disembodied voice with a body, but was too distracted to pay it much mind – it would be filed away for later. The exorcists were very clearly hurt - Allen was clearly limping, Lavi was wobbling slightly on his feet, and Kanda was  _more_  than drenched in blood.

There was nothing she could do without detracting from her current mission – she'd managed to rescue a few more clusters of civilians, but not really enough to feel any sense of accomplishment – and she forced herself to move on.

It was only a little while later that she looked around and saw no living people in need of help. She knew she hadn't sent off nearly enough, and hoped that at least some of the unaccounted for had escaped. The thought of that many people dead was not one that would sit comfortably in her mind. Even the final battle at Hogwarts hadn't accumulated a much larger body count than today.

Giving the area one last sweep, she set off as quickly as she could towards Hogwarts. This was one of the few times that she wished  _Hogwarts: A History_  was incorrect, because being able to Apparate into the Great Hall would be incredibly convenient right now.

It was a while before she managed to reach the school, and she headed immediately for the staff room. After she burst in (politely) and explained the situation, Professor McGonagall sent off her Patronus to alert the other teachers. The organization was swift, though erratic, and all the staff were gathered in a matter of minutes.

On their way to Hogsmeade, Professor Flitwick noted that there seemed to be a large mass of something leaving the village; when they arrived, the streets were empty. The Headmistress set to work immediately, sending each teacher off to their specialized area.

Professor Flitwick and the Headmistress herself set about repairing the damage done to the buildings; Madame Pomfrey worked with Professor Slughorn and Professor Sprout to attend to the injured; and Hagrid was in charge of checking the surroundings for hidden enemies (strangely, the Death Eaters had fled alongside the Noah).

Hermione thought she overheard Professor McGonagall muttering to herself, "It's a good thing we hired guards after all, isn't it?"


	21. Healing the Wounded (Trust)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by espeon16

**Healing the Wounded (Trust)**

Allen woke to the noise of uncooperative patients and an exasperated matron. By the time he forced himself to sit up, Madame Pomfrey had already bustled over. She immediately set to fussing and patching him up, and he smiled politely and sat quietly while she worked. The gash across his right arm was healed first; followed by the bullet wound in his leg. The puncture wounds, courtesy of Road, took a bit more time and energy, but soon all was well and Allen was choking down bitter-smelling potions for blood loss.

"How are you feeling now, dear?" The matron was still worrying over his leg - the candle-hole was too close to the bullet wound, and it still twinged whenever Allen tried to move it.

"Very well, thank you." The injury in his abdomen was still throbbing, and his leg was driving him crazy, but he had never felt this well after waking up in the Headquarters' medical ward. The Head Nurse was skilled, but she didn't have access to spells and potions.

Madame Pomfrey still didn't look convinced, so Allen offered a sincere smile. "Really, I'm feeling surprisingly well."

If anything, this made her frown more. Apparently, years of working with too-proud, stubborn boys developed her instinct for spotting half-truths, and the 'surprisingly' in Allen's reassurance was caught as quickly as an akuma in Kanda's vicinity.

Years of working in the nursing profession, however, had given her plenty of tolerance and patience. She simply sighed when Allen refused to offer up anything more, and set about working at the smaller cuts and scrapes.

It was Allen's turn to frown. "I'm fine, ma'am. You don't have to bother with those, I'm used to it. You have other patients to see to, right?" He really didn't want to take up any more of her time than he had to, and he  _was_  used to being hurt.

"Nonsense, child," she admonished, continuing in her ministrations without so much as a pause. "You're a pleasure to treat, and it's my job to make sure you're as comfortable as possible." There was some hesitation in her next question, as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"You said you were 'used to it'. Just how often are you injured like this?" Her voice was weighted with concern, and Allen was slightly taken aback.

"I'm injured every time I go out on a mission, though not often as badly as this time," he explained, trying to make her see that there wasn't any fuss to be made. "You've already done great, really."

The matron looked even more upset, if such a thing was possible. Shaking her head, she finished up with Allen's wounds and gave him strict instructions involving plenty of bed rest and avoidance of strain (advice they both knew he wouldn't follow).

Allen could tell that she was unhappy about the situation - "Too young," she muttered under her breath, "why do they always begin fighting so young?" - but there was nothing he could do about it. Just as there was no way he could prevent people from dying, becoming akuma, killing people. Just as he couldn't guarantee that he would even live to wake up tomorrow, and so he did what he always does.

He tried his best to smile and tell his white lie - "Everything's going to be okay." No one ever believed him, but it's the effort that counts, right?

A few moments of silence followed, and they both sat in contemplative silence, eyes wandering around the ward in search of inspiration for a change of topic. Madame Pomfrey settled on Kanda, who was struggling to thwart a seventh-year's attempt to help him sit down.

She frowned disapprovingly at the dark-haired exorcist."He's not very cooperative, is he?"

Allen let out a shaky laugh - both in relief at the departure of the tense mood and in nervousness, because the topic was  _Kanda_. "Don't mind him, he's always like that."

"He is rather badly injured, though?"

"Mm. Well, he has an... ability... that makes him heal faster, and so he fights more, er,  _recklessly_  than the rest of us. This is probably only a small fraction of the wounds he received during the battle." Allen stopped, musing over a new realization. "That's likely why he doesn't want to be treated. He thinks he's wasting your time, because he'll probably be fine in a few more hours."

"Probably?" The matron frowned at Kanda some more.

"There's always a 'probably' involved if you want to say that one of us will be 'fine'."

* * *

Kanda was rather proud of himself for staying conscious through the entire affair.

He had stubbornly refused to be levitated onto a stretcher, but after some threats to tie him down or knock him out (attributed to Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall, respectively), he relented to being transported over by Side-Along Apparition. Though it spared him the long trek up to the castle, the experience didn't leave much for his resolve to stay upright. Kanda had willpower, though (and stubbornness and pride), so he managed the rest of the walk - limping and nearly falling over more than once - up to the castle.

Once he was inside, however, Kanda was forced to tolerate an 'escort' - a nervous sixth-year, only present to ensure that the dark-haired exorcist didn't kneel over and die at any point. It would have been fine if they hadn't passed so many groups of wounded (also making their way to the hospital wing). Every time someone caught sight of Kanda and his still-bleeding wounds, shocked whispers would start, punctuated by pitying glances sent his way. The escort would then inevitably join in, as if this gave him permission to, and would ask after Kanda's well-being.

The swordsman would have been more convinced of his sincerity if the boy hadn't been cringing away in fright whenever Kanda so much as looked his way. It might have something to do with the fact that Kanda had his glower on full power, a hand clenching his sword, and was keeping the pace unreasonably brisk.

By the time he reached the hospital wing, Kanda's irritation and annoyance had reached levels only Lavi could have managed, before. It was hard enough to think with a concussion, and he didn't need idiots coming up to him and asking if he needed a glass of water.

The matron was there, tending to his wounds, but was gone again too quickly to be normal. Kanda blamed the concussion and blood loss for muddling his thoughts, but he was almost sure that she wasn't meeting his eyes. The lines around her mouth would crinkle in worry whenever she came across a particularly nasty injury, and, surprisingly, her disapproval seemed to be aimed at the wounds and not Kanda himself.

He wasn't conscious enough to dwell on such matters, though, and he just managed to remember to do a mental checklist to make sure there wasn't some internal trauma that she had missed. That bullet he'd taken for Lavi; the cracked ribs; the tear in his side; the broken arm; the scratch on his back. Even the many minor wounds were taken care of, and he mustered a grudging respect for her thoroughness. He was also very glad that she didn't ask about the ears; 'nibbled by purple butterflies' wasn't exactly an impressive reason.

Kanda scowled suspiciously at the potions he was supposed to take for his concussion and blood loss, and suddenly caught movement in his peripheral vision.

"Could I speak with you, please?" The Defense professor - his name was probably Lupin - was in front of him, and Kanda was not taking well to the idea of standing up again.

* * *

Lavi woke up feeling like he had recently been run over by something heavy. A train, perhaps, or maybe just a moose. He kept his eyes closed for a while, because it was warm under the sheets and the scent of blood and death - things he knew too well, both as an exorcist and as a Bookman - in the air suggested that it would be less painful to just stay still.

Eventually, curiosity and the chatter of fellow patients forced him to move. A good deal of willpower went towards forcing his eyes open, and, as a result, not much more was left for the task of sitting up. He managed nonetheless, and he suspected that the matron had already been by to alleviate the worst of the damage. The milder cuts from when he had passed out were certainly gone, and his half-Splinched ear seemed much better off. A Blood-Replenishing Potion sat on the bedside table, and he felt a thick bandage around the portion of his leg below his knee.

He swallowed the potion and wiggled into an upright position to poke at the bandage. The wound wasn't bleeding anymore, but it seemed that - either because it was spell-related or because he had been unconscious - it wasn't fully healed. Everything else seemed as good as new, and Lavi's only complaint was that he hadn't been awake to record it.

Having nothing better to do, Lavi settled down to people-watch. There was nothing especially interesting - excepting maybe Kanda's frustration at well-meaning students coming up to him to try and help - and Lavi's mind drifted back to the scraps of memory that Road had shown him.

There was no doubt of their authenticity. The bits of recollection, once out of the hazy whispers of almost-memories, fit in his mind as perfectly as a pen in his hand. The return of the memories, though, brought with it the now-familiar headache (and heart-wrenching guilt) that had been all but absent for the past few days.

Lavi almost bit right through his lip in an effort not to mention the stabbing pain in his head to anyone - the matron already had enough on her hands. There was the slightest taste of copper in his mouth, and he decided that lip-gnawing probably wasn't the best to way go about relieving his frustration. Restless energy moved to his hands, instead, twisting and fiddling and clenching at the bedsheets until a sharp stab of pain made him look down.

The fingertips of his left hand were bloody and raw, already crusted over in parts with dry carmine. He remembered -  _running, limping, almost-crawling, anything to get away from the Noah with the sharp grin and dangerous hands_  - holding on to the wall - _clinging, clawing, scrabbling for purchase on cold, rough, unforgiving stone_  - a bit too forcefully.

Fingertips, fingers, hands, clinging - something was stirring at the back of his mind, but Lavi felt it start to slip away again. Desperate to catch it, he pressed his eyes shut and physically made an oddly-familiar grasping motion, reaching out with his bloodied left hand. Images and emotions immediately assaulted him, crowding in the should-be darkness behind his eyelid.

_Dave stretched out his arm to try and stop him - his fingertips only managing to brush the fabric of his robes - a second attempt - catches his sleeve, and gray eyes turn on him -_

_"Time to go" - Dave glimpses the a lone figure approaching the site of the disaster - he must stay unbiased - a hand, catching, grabbing at his elbow - he pulls away - regret, deep-seated guilt - another attempt - the ends of his scarf, and Junior knew - no more scarves for many personas yet._

Lavi snapped his eye open, gasping in shallow breaths and trying to make sense of what he's seen - no, remembered. It seemed as if this wasn't restricted to dreams anymore, and he hoped no one would notice or worry if he blanked out for a moment or two.

* * *

Lupin watched nervously as Kanda followed him out into the hallway, not missing the boy's well-concealed wince, nor the way he subtly leaned against the wall for support once they had stopped moving. He had utilised such tactics himself, after full-moon nights back when he was still in school, though it had been more for the sake of keeping his secret than for some fragile pride.

The exorcist standing in front of him looked... scarred. There was no other way to describe it, and the boy didn't even have any physical scars to justify the statement, but there it was. Kanda, covered in blood and hiding his pain - like Lupin used to, and sometimes still does - and scowling at everything because he'd never known any alternative to this - hating the world. It was a little painful to watch.

"What," Kanda snapped after a few moments of silence. It wasn't a question. "Stop watching me like I'm going to shatter into pieces and get to the point."

Lupin was briefly surprised at Kanda's perceptiveness, to be honest, but the werewolf supposed he shouldn't be. Kanda could be many things that people didn't give him enough credit for.

"It's about Lavi," he began, trying to find a way to properly say this. The dark-haired boy simply stood and glowered at him, waiting (impatiently) for the man to continue.

"I looked up what you mentioned and what I observed in the library, and most of it points to an old  _Obliviate_  wearing thin." Lupin didn't bother to mention that 'most of it' didn't include the redhead's rapid switches between personalities, because he suspected Kanda already knew.

"This particular version of the charm wasn't designed to last through encounters with memory triggers, so the mind is fighting back and trying to remember." Seeing the blank look on Kanda's face, Lupin proceeded to elaborate. " _Obliviate_  is a memory-blocking charm. It's possible that Lavi had been in contact with the wizarding world before, and someone erased his memories, not expecting him to return."

Lupin watched as Kanda frowned, processing the new information. Spending most of his life in the tight-knit group of Marauders, Lupin knew what it was like to have a friend in trouble and not be able to help. He also knew that, despite appearances, Kanda  _did_ care about what happened to his teammates (the exorcist himself may be in denial, though). That made the next question both expected and difficult to answer.

"So what can we do about it?"

Lupin looked down and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and hoping Kanda wouldn't react too badly to the news that he was completely useless here. He opened his mouth to speak, but the swordsman beat him to it.

"Nothing, then. Baka usagi is going to have to deal with it himself." The tone was brisk, but it still somehow came out sounding like a question, and so Lupin blinked and nodded. He was again surprised, this time by Kanda's ability to accept difficult truths as if he dealt with six of them before breakfast.

Kanda turned to leave, biting his lip almost imperceptibly, and Lupin could almost  _see_  all the invisible scars, piling up and threatening to crush that fragile strength.

* * *

Trust is a delicate, valuable thing, and Harry knew that better than any nineteen-year-old boy should. If Ron or Hermione hadn't trusted him enough to believe he was telling the truth back in those precariously-balanced days when no one else would, Harry didn't know where he would be today. If they hadn't trusted Dumbledore, if they  _had_  trusted the wrong kinds of people - Harry's life seemed to be built on 'if's.

Maybe, just maybe, if they had believed the exorcists enough to take precautions or be educated enough about akuma, there would be many more survivors lying in the hospital wing. Maybe, to survive what seemed to be another upcoming war, they would all need to let down their guard a bit and try to trust again. (Harry wanted to still be in denial about the war, but he knew better than anyone how much harm it would do to avoid the truth.) Too much war and pain and death; too young, too soon.

At the moment, Harry was recuperating in a bed next to Ron, watching the latter for any signs of side-effects from the numerous spells that Death Eaters had shot at him. Madame Pomfrey had taken care of the more easily identifiable (serious) ones, but Ron would still occasionally sprout green spots or cough up purple smoke. Harry was finding it very amusing, despite the situation.

"Hey, Ron?" he began softly, not sure what he was trying to do. The second-youngest Weasley gave a "Mm?" and nodded for him to continue, still busy with de-spotting.

"Do you think... we ought to..."

"Ought to?" Ron prompted, noticing the seriousness in Harry's tone and turning his full attention to the conversation.

"I don't know." Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Loan the exorcists some trust?"

"I don't see why not," was the reply, and Harry was glad that Ron hadn't questioned his use of the word 'loan'. "I mean, we've already had them on probation for long enough, and all they've done is save our lives."

"True, but there's a fair share of suspicious actions-"

"You think we haven't done anything suspicious ourselves?" The laugh wasn't as bitter as it could be, and Harry couldn't help but agree.

"Loaning of trust it is, then," and the topic was closed. "You might want to do something about the spots, mate, I think they're multiplying."

* * *

Hermione stood at the door to the hospital wing, wringing her hands and looking generally indecisive. She didn't want to bother them - they were all worse off than she was, and her few cuts and scrapes had been patched up already - but this might be important, and information could be the difference between win and loss at this point.

In the end, her choice of location decided it for her. People kept moving in and out of the ward, and Hermione knew that getting under Madame Pomfrey's feet would be much worse than simply disturbing the others. Thankfully, they were all gathered in roughly the same area, and all were alert and unoccupied.

"Am I disturbing your rest?" Hermione's forehead crinkled in worry.

Harry snorted. "You make it sound like we're dead," he remarked dryly.

"C'mon, 'Mione, sit down!" Ron, whose nose had turned a disturbing shade of orange, patted the bed beside his. His enthusiasm disrupted the relative quiet of the hospital wing, and disapproving glares were turned towards him.

"I think I remember seeing something that might be sort of important," she said once seated, biting her lip. She suddenly wasn't sure if she wasn't getting worked up over nothing. "The thing is, I'm not sure if it's really of any use, and there's also-"

"For heaven's sake, woman, spit it out!" Kanda snarled, clearly in one of his worst moods. He seemed to almost bristle whenever someone came anywhere close to him. Ron shot him a reproving look, and Allen intervened before things could get nasty.

"BaKanda, shut it. Do please continue," he added, turning attentively to Hermione. When she still looked hesitant, Harry butted in with a gentle reminder.

"We all know how dangerous it can be to underestimate information. Go on, Hermione, tell us."

"I think I've seen the term 'Noah' somewhere in the library before." She paused. "Likely in the Restricted Section."

Lavi was the first to realize what this meant. "So you're saying that there are records of a previous Noah-wizard encounter?" The young witch nodded. "Well, then," the redhead grinned and clapped his hands together, a gleam of mischief forming in his eye. "Time to plan Operation Break-Into-Library!"

"Can't we just ask for a pass?" Allen pointed out, frowning.

"But then it would look suspicious if we hang around for too long, and adults won't approve of us looking for possibly-important information without their 'guidance', and we're not allowed out of the hospital wing for  _ages_ , and, well," he paused, thinking. "It's more  _fun_  this way!" He mock-pouted, setting a pleading eye on the rest of the group, and Kanda gave him a solid whack over the head.

"Lavi's right," Harry conceded. "Partly, anyway. It would take forever to find it with so little to go on." It was left unsaid, but everyone understood that the last part of Lavi's statement was the most important. In dark times, it was important to keep spirits up. Besides, what better way to exercise this new, fragile trust than a team effort in rule-breaking?

"Okay, then, we'll go at night as soon as everyone's up to it." Allen's statement was punctuated with a smirk at Ron. His nose was fading, but feathers were poking up from inside his collar.

The next few hours were spent semi-productively. Lavi demanded a pen and paper and proceeded to sketch a map of the library and surrounding hallways from memory, though he'd only been inside once or twice, and puzzled over escape routes and hiding spots. Kanda sat and tried not to strangle anyone, and Allen got in everyone's way. Ron was focused on removing the feathers, with Hermione's help, and Harry was left to regulate the noise so it didn't go above a dull roar. The other patients weren't pleased with his efforts.

"There's something else bothering me," Hermione said while holding down Ron's arm - it had grown a mind of its own and was attacking anyone within reach. "The Noah - Road, was it? - said that her game of 'Kill-and-Seek' was beginning, and I can't help but think the wording's a bit off."

"Maybe she meant Seek-and-Kill, but she needed to fit it to Kill-and-Seek?" Harry suggested, but Lavi looked up from his lip-chewing and frantic scribbling to contribute his opinion.

"No, Road's more precise than that. She would have used a different children's game or reference if that's what she meant. It's more likely she meant killing people, and then seeking something else."

"So murder's not their main goal this time?" Allen asked, unable to help the tiniest hint of sarcasm from creeping in.

"Of course it's one of them," Kanda bit out, "but the Earl's probably just looking for something specific."

"Mn. We'll have time to argue over this later," Lavi hummed, absently waving a dismissive hand and doodling something on the ever-expanding map-plan-document. "Right now we've got a library to unlawfully enter!"


	22. Operation Break Into Library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man or Harry Potter.
> 
> Many thanks to beta-reader, espeon16

**Operation Break Into Library**

Allen wandered along between the beds full of gently snoring patients, not really paying much mind to his assigned role - to check that everyone was asleep - and sneaking furtive glances towards Madame Pomfrey's office door. He was really feeling a bit guilty about this entire affair, but so many things depended upon its success. He only wished that it wouldn't have to involve so much sneaking around and hiding from Hogwarts staff.

But Allen was almost certain that Mana would have approved, and that was good enough for him. (Cross would have too, but that didn't matter.)

The problem, then, was to make sure the plan was possible to pull off before they attempted it and it went up in smoke. (Though, with Lavi involved, that might happen literally anyway.) He swept one last glance over the beds and their occupants, deemed them firmly asleep, and made his way over to where Lavi and Kanda were trying to quietly kill each other.

It was amusing, really, to watch Lavi find increasingly innovative ways to silently irritate the swordsman. Kanda, having been told multiple times beforehand to  _keep quiet_  throughout the execution of the plan, had very few options for retaliation and less creativity than the red-haired annoyance. Allen, of course, stood pretending to be occupied and occasionally fanning the flames of good-natured (whispered) banter with resolutely casual remarks.

There was a tiny bit of  _something_ , however, that set Allen's nerves not quite on edge, but tense enough to merit some concern. A tiny something of a strained undertone to all the bickering/murder attempts. A something that manifested in a pause before the last word of the phrase "Aww, Yuu-chan, you worried about your friends?" or the brief hesitation in Kanda's eyes before he snapped back at a comment about insanity.

Allen could feel it, and he was doing it too - swallowing jabs aimed at Kanda's tendency to abandon teammates; only able to muster a weak, wavering laugh in response to Lavi's mock-seriousness ("Nah, Yuu-chan sleeps like the dead.") He didn't know what it was, this looming shadow just a step removed from immediate notice.

He would have said it was the upcoming war if not for the fact that said "war" was only another series of battles in the seemingly-eternal struggle that all of the exorcists had been fighting through. No, it wasn't war. It was a personalized type of pressure, eating away at and building upon the familiar bonds between the exorcists. Allen had no doubt as to what had caused it - there had always been secrets, especially Lavi's, but it had always been easy enough to ignore - but he didn't know how to  _fix_  it.

It was killing him, but quietly. They were about to carry out a plan, after all; they needed to be  _quiet_  (don't mention the problems, we can all see them, isn't that why we're doing this?)

* * *

"Oh, Merlin, Mordred, Great Godric! Hide, hide, hide,  _hide_!"

A mad scramble for dark alcoves and unlocked classroom doors ensued, with Harry and Ron scuffling over the Invisibility Cloak.

This - what to do if they crossed paths with a patrolling figure of authority - was one of the parts of the plan that hadn't been completely fleshed out - "I thought Lavi already did it?" "No, Hermione was supposed to." "Whatever, guys, we don't have the time!" - and currently consisted mainly of hoping fervently that they didn't get caught.

Lavi had been the first to spot the tiny dot labelled "Argus Filch" coming down one of the secret passageways, but they were in a particularly bad spot to be caught. No passageways but the one the caretaker was heading down, no speedy escape routes - the hallway stretched for quite a ways, leaving no hiding places. The observation was casually mentioned by a silently-panicking Allen, and everyone in the group cursed the Cloak for being so  _small_.

"He's coming, he's coming,  _hurry it up_!" It was difficult to tell who was doing the frantic whispering at any one time, but Lavi thought that this was Hermione. She had fitted herself in a shadowy corner, Harry and Ron were squished under the Cloak, and Kanda looked about ready to punch through a locked door in frustration.

Oddly enough, Lavi felt some sort of exhilarating excitement rush through him. It was accompanied by the now-annoying feeling of familiarity, but this time it was plainly faded. Somehow removed from the current scenario, as all memories should be, but another step beyond that. A memory of a memory.

As soon as the thought crossed Lavi's mind, he was thrust unceremoniously into another snippet of remembering-

_Sitting on a bed, Dave listening attentively - this time not for the records, and just for his own curiosity - tall, wildly-spun tales of adventure, exploits, and close calls set in the halls of a fantastical castle - with friends,_ friends _, friends-_

"Lavi!" The hushed shout was from Allen, and then the redhead was pulled into an empty room, the door  _snick_ ing shut just in time. They waited, breath bated, for the sounds of Filch's footsteps to pass, and Lavi felt it again. The memory of someone else, with their  _friends_ , doing exactly this, if not with mildly varied circumstances.

The memory of an exhilarating joy that was not his own.

* * *

Kanda was solid in his conviction that this entire thing was ridiculous. They all knew why they were here, and it showed too much. Harry would agree too readily to one of Lavi's suggestions; Hermione wouldn't question a very questionable Allen-habit; Ron would nod to everything Kanda said. They were trying to trust too hard with their  _actions_ , really, and not enough with their thoughts. Kanda could see the tensing of Harry's shoulders whenever one of the exorcists did something unexpected. Hermione went to lengths to avoid turning her back on any one of them, though it was difficult to tell if it was subconscious or purposeful.

Kanda could compare it to his relationship with the Black Order higher-ups (not including Komui, because the man was somewhat crazy). The Japanese exorcist never questioned anything he was told to do. He followed orders. He did what he was expected to do on missions, and never once went against directives because he thought they were wrong.

He didn't  _trust_  the higher-ups, though, and who could expect him to? He had good reason (experimentation, illegal processes,  _Alma_ ) not to, and the current group's dynamics worked the same way. The wizards had plenty of reasons to not trust the exorcists: however much they wanted to, their instincts would still scream  _no_.

Their mistrust was understandable, and that was what made this entire scheme very, very stupid (in Kanda's eyes, at least). There was nothing he could do about the situation's stupidity, however, and so Kanda resigned himself to going along with it, as he always had.

Harry was taking charge - presumably because he had much more experience in sneaking around libraries in schools of magic - and splitting them up. Harry, Hermione, and Lavi would be on book-searching duty (because if Kanda would willingly give himself a headache speed-reading archaic tomes, it would be a sign of the apocalypse) and the rest of the group would be wrangling dangerous books/looking out for patrolling teachers/otherwise not interfering with the first group's work. Things were fine until Lavi pulled out "Fifteenth-Century Fiends", and the hardcover next to it fell out.

A few things happened at once: Hermione made a noise of horror, Harry attempted a dive, Lavi froze, Allen looked over with mild interest, and Kanda unsheathed Mugen (though how he expected to use that on a book, no one knew). The air was tense for a brief moment, everyone watching the book. Its pages fluttered weakly.

Kanda made an impatient noise somewhere between a growl and a huff, strode over and snatched the book up. He had time to register that the contents included something-or-other about Unforgivable Curses before the pages began quivering with more insistence. A faint noise, similar to a whistling tea kettle, began to rise in volume, and would clearly soon reach unwanted-attention-grabbing levels.

On an impulse, Kanda stuffed the book back in the shelf. It promptly stopped whistling, and everyone else chose to ignore the fact that it had been replaced incorrectly (two shelves above its original spot), though Lavi had looked about to mention it before he received a silencing glare from the swordsman. The little group quietly returned to their tasks, though with more caution than before.

After a few more minutes of hushed page-flipping and tense watchdogging, Allen hissed a quick warning and everyone went completely still. Heavy footsteps could be heard in the hallway outside, but they didn't pause or enter the library, and a collective breath was let out once they faded from earshot.

Nerves frayed and feeling the pressure of time start to descend upon them, the little group set upon the books with a new fervor, and soon Harry uttered a (hushed) cry of triumph. Lavi and Hermione immediately crowded around him, and Hermione nodded, excitement in her eyes.

"That's the one!" She just managed to keep her voice down. She grabbed the book from Harry, jabbing at a paragraph halfway down the page.

Lavi tugged it out of Hermione's hands and settled down on the floor, eyes fixed on the section she had indicated. Ron frowned.

"Lavi, you can't read it here, it'll take too long-" He was cut off by a dismissive wave from the redhead, who was already flipping the page.

"Doesn't Lavi have photographic memory or something?" Allen asked, raising a hand halfway. This prompted a very interested response from Hermione, and soon Harry and Kanda were contributing to the discussion as well. Lavi flipped the page again.

"Uh, I really think-" Ron started, but was interrupted again by another earnest question from the young witch. "Guys, really-" Kanda snarled something at Allen. "This is important-" Allen bit back a retort, and Harry moved as if to intervene.

"Oi!" Ron was almost shouting at this point, but it didn't matter, as the sudden appearance of a professor-shaped shadow across the aisle startled Harry into knocking over a heavy-looking book. It fell open as it hit the ground, and immediately emitted an ear-piercing wail.

Lavi was on his feet in a flash, closing and replacing the book he'd been poring over, and snapped at the five deer-in-headlights to  _hide_. Ron, who had apparently been trying to warn them of this exact scenario, regained his senses swiftly and herded the others into a shadowy space between shelves.

Kanda spotted Lavi casually picking up the fallen (screaming) book, closing it and dusting off the cover, looking for all the world like he had simply dropped it when he'd pulled another book out. Only years of being on the receiving end of the redhead's pranks allowed Kanda to stay still - instead of, say, rushing out of cover, strangling the rabbit, and ducking back into the shadows with the corpse in tow.

* * *

"Hello, Mr. Lavi." Hermione could see a slight smirk on the red-haired exorcist's lips, as if he were amused by the pause before his name. Clearly the Headmistress hadn't yet gotten used to Lavi's lack of last name. "Would you care to explain what you are doing here?"

"Gladly." The smirk widened into a charming smile, and Lavi blinked innocently at Professor McGonagall. "I was getting a bit restless, staying in the hospital wing, you see, and then I realized that I'd never actually properly visited the library." Hermione was a bit unsettled when she realized how quickly he'd set up the situation to match his words, and how easily the cover story slipped from his lips. They weren't lies, not really, because there was a good amount of truth in both his statements.

"I see. And so you decided to grace it with your presence after midnight?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Twelve fifty-seven, to be exact. Ma'am," he added hastily. The eyebrow rose further, but the Headmistress chose not to comment on the fact that there wasn't a clock in sight. Hermione wondered if he'd been counting the minutes since they'd left the hospital wing; she had a decent memory herself, and she could recall that one time Lavi had given decimal points when Kanda had wandered off.

"Could you not have waited until tomorrow morning?"

"With all due respect, ma'am, it's impossible to know if I'll be alive tomorrow morning." He dropped the smile and adopted a grave look. Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and nodded. He'd chosen the perfect excuse - war and death were things they all knew well.

"Are any of your friends with you?" Hermione could see Lavi thinking, weighing the benefits and drawbacks of revealing the others' presence. Hermione hoped he would decide on a 'no', because coming out of hiding would be suspicious, and it was likely that only Lavi possessed the skills to talk himself out of trouble.

"No, why would they be? None of them have any reason to; they deal with things differently, and I don't need accompaniment. After all, it's only a short walk, if one knows the right  _passageways_."

The Headmistress looked a bit confused, and Hermione couldn't blame her. It wasn't the right word choice by any stretch, but she knew what he was hinting at.

"Oh, yeah, been meaning to ask you." He changed the subject so nonchalantly that even Hermione would have believed that he had indeed been aching to ask her this question for a long time - if it weren't for the fact that he'd seen the Headmistress on numerous occasions since the start of term and hadn't brought it up once with the rest of them. "Could you show me the Animagus thing?"

"…That is a rather odd request."

"Ah, I'm a Bookman, you know. Curiosity and all that." Lavi winked - or blinked - and grinned at her, charm turned on full blast. "But not here," he added quickly, "the dust and mustiness might upset your delicate feline nose." That 'delicate feline nose' might also pick up the others' scents, Hermione mused.

"Where would you like to go?" Hermione couldn't help but marvel at his quick thinking and clever wording. If he had suggested a place, it would have seemed as if he were luring her away from here - which was, in fact, what he was trying to do. But offering her the choice lent a false sense of security.

"My office. We can discuss your behavior there as well." She attempted a stern look.

"Over a cup of hot chocolate?" Lavi put on his best hopeful melting bunny look, and all traces of severity left her face.

"I don't see why not," she sighed, and led the way out. Lavi continued chattering, and Hermione hoped it wasn't actually just to allow the others in hiding a measure of how far away the duo had travelled. That would have been foresight to the point of creepiness.

Still, though, she listened. As soon as she judged their voices to be faded enough, she shoved Harry forwards. "Invisibility Cloak, go!" The green-eyed boy stood blinking in confusion, and she wondered if truly no one else had noticed Lavi's subtle hints at the next course of action.

"All clear," Harry reported back after a few moments, and they made their way back via a secret passageway (one that was far too narrow - much time was spent jabbing elbows into stomachs and stepping onto toes).

Soon they were back in their beds with Madame Pomfrey none the wiser. As they waited for Lavi to return, an audible rumble passed over the room. Allen ducked his head, face turning an impressive shade of scarlet.

"I hope Lavi brings back some of that hot chocolate for the rest of us."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Faster update! Why? Well, when I was transferring this fic over to Archive of Our Own (if you have an account over there, please do drop by), I noticed that I posted the fic (first chapter) on September 18, 2012, and that the same date was coming up very, very rapidly. Also the reason why this one's a bit shorter than I promised, but, um. Happy Anniversary? Happy Kill-and-Seek's Birthday? I don't know.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, anyhow, and reviews are still very much appreciated. A reminder that I do reply to all first-time reviewers, and am willing to keep up a conversation if reviewers reply. Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please review if you have the time, I'd appreciate it. Thank you!
> 
> Beta-read by espeon16
> 
> Originally posted on Fanfiction.net. If you spot any issues with my copy-paste transferring, please let me know.


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